Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

French Polynesia

Papeete vs. Male Cost of Living Summary

Papeete is 44.8% more expensive than Male.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Papeete
Groceries: pay 59.6% more in Papeete
Transportation: pay 4.0% less in Papeete
Housing: pay 36.9% more in Papeete
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Papeete
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.5% more in Papeete
Clothing: pay 40.0% more in Papeete

The cost of childcare, restaurants, groceries, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports in Papeete are more expensive than in Male. Notably, childcare and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Papeete.

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Papeete vs. Male Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papeete instead of Male, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Male	Papeete
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.74	$18.77 CFPF2,000	+212.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.73 MVR150.39	$14.78 CFPF1,575	+51.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.12	$2.67 CFPF285	+64.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$3.28 CFPF350	+1005.5%
Average			+158.3%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of restaurants

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pay 59.6% more for groceries

	Male	Papeete
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.57	$2.67 CFPF285	+61.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.34 MVR82.43	$13.92 CFPF1,483	+160.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.69 MVR118.80	$5.55 CFPF591	-27.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.92 MVR29.70	$6.27 CFPF668	+226.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.77 MVR42.73	$6.92 CFPF737	+150.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.83	$2.13 CFPF227	+18.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.40	$1.12 CFPF119	-19.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 MVR28.65	$2.98 CFPF317	+60.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.84	$3.56 CFPF380	+192.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.93 MVR14.40	$1.22 CFPF130	+31.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.86 MVR13.30	$1.01 CFPF108	+17.4%
Average			+59.6%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.0% less for transportation

	Male	Papeete
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.81	$5.64 CFPF601	+48.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.23	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR501K	$18,766.76 CFPF2M	-42.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.70	??
Average			-4.0%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.9% more for housing

	Male	Papeete
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	$69.67 CFPF7,424	-4.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$951.14 MVR14,695.19	$1,337.13 CFPF142K	+40.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$699.92 MVR10,813.71	$938.34 CFPF99,981	+34.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$90.98 MVR1,405.60	$138.13 CFPF14,718	+51.8%
Average			+36.9%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Male	Papeete
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.98 MVR2,857.90	$469.17 CFPF49,990	+153.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,004.83 MVR46,424.59	$9,383.38 CFPF1000K	+212.3%
Average			+181.4%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Male	Papeete
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.19	$3.28 CFPF350	-32.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.84	$3.40 CFPF362	-4.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 MVR230.60	$12.86 CFPF1,370	-13.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	$84.45 CFPF8,998	+19.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.39	$14.08 CFPF1,500	+44.6%
Average			+3.5%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.0% more for clothing

	Male	Papeete
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.48	$68.78 CFPF7,329	+74.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.64 MVR766.88	$71.91 CFPF7,662	+44.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.13 MVR1,346.11	$78.16 CFPF8,328	-10.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.52 MVR811.39	$89.14 CFPF9,498	+69.7%
Average			+40.0%

Male vs. Papeete - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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See the cost of living in Maldives vs. French Polynesia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Maldives and French Polynesia.

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