Cost of living comparison

Somalia

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Mogadishu Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 87.0% more expensive than Mogadishu.

Restaurants: pay 7.1% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 14.0% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 64.1% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 10.8 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.3% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, housing, clothing, transportation, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Vientiane are more expensive than in Mogadishu. Notably, childcare, housing, and clothing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

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Vientiane vs. Mogadishu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Mogadishu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.1% less for restaurants

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.00 SOS1,712	$2.67 LAK60,126	-10.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.50 SOS2,568	$5.35 LAK120K	+18.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 SOS666	$0.71 LAK16,034	-38.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 SOS295	$0.37 LAK8,393	-27.8%
Average			-7.1%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% more for groceries

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 SOS928	$1.14 LAK25,683	-29.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.50 SOS1,427	$13.59 LAK306K	+443.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.92 SOS2,809	$7.61 LAK171K	+54.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.90 SOS1,084	$1.87 LAK42,012	-1.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.76 SOS1,003	$2.81 LAK63,196	+59.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 SOS971	$1.09 LAK24,412	-36.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 SOS259	$0.52 LAK11,638	+14.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 SOS777	$1.19 LAK26,775	-12.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SOS331	$0.69 LAK15,606	+19.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 SOS388	$0.66 LAK14,886	-2.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 SOS453	$0.49 LAK10,972	-38.5%
Average			+14.0%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 64.1% more for transportation

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.38 SOS1,930	$5.62 LAK126K	+66.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$48.44 LAK1M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$28,190.13 LAK634M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.40 SOS3,082	$8.47 LAK190K	+56.8%
Average			+64.1%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.67 SOS38,051	$12.33 LAK277K	-81.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$195.00 SOS111K	$643.47 LAK14M	+230.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$77.50 SOS44,234	$414.50 LAK9M	+434.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$122.35 SOS69,835	$69.22 LAK2M	-43.4%
Average			+166.0%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 10.8 times more for childcare

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$78.33 SOS44,710	$625.02 LAK14M	+697.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$760.00 SOS434K	$11,083.07 LAK249M	+1358.3%
Average			+978.7%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	??	$1.36 LAK30,564
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 SOS1,142	$1.79 LAK40,251	-10.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$1.78 LAK40,084
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.67 SOS18,074	$47.54 LAK1M	+50.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.23 LAK95,200
Average			+19.3%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.00 SOS7,991	$26.74 LAK601K	+91.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$14.00 SOS7,991	$66.85 LAK2M	+377.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$25.00 SOS14,269	$56.75 LAK1M	+127.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.50 SOS18,550	$41.00 LAK922K	+26.2%
Average			+126.1%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - 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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