Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Mogadishu Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.3 times more expensive than Mogadishu.

Restaurants: pay 10.2% more in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 45.4% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 3.9 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 11.6 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.0% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 82.7% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Mogadishu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.2% more for restaurants

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.50 SOS1,994	$2.31 LAK49,962	-34.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.50 SOS2,563	$5.54 LAK119,908	+23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 SOS285	$0.62 LAK13,417	+24.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 SOS185	$0.42 LAK8,993	+27.8%
Average			+10.2%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 45.4% more for groceries

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 SOS926	$1.17 LAK25,263	-28.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.50 SOS1,424	$13.94 LAK301,703	+457.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.36 SOS3,054	$7.32 LAK158,409	+36.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 SOS1,108	$1.81 LAK39,209	-6.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 SOS937	$2.99 LAK64,760	+82.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 SOS775	$0.90 LAK19,388	-34.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 SOS258	$0.50 LAK10,827	+10.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 SOS710	$0.94 LAK20,320	-24.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SOS331	$0.61 LAK13,144	+4.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 SOS314	$0.74 LAK16,015	+34.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 SOS388	$0.47 LAK10,072	-31.6%
Average			+45.4%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.91 SOS2,228	$5.18 LAK112,095	+32.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.00 SOS11,392	$50.18 LAK1,086,126	+150.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,500.00 SOS4,271,848	$28,736.24 LAK621,991,096	+283.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 SOS3,304	$10.86 LAK235,028	+87.2%
Average			+138.4%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.9 times more for housing

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.67 SOS37,972	$11.39 LAK246,478	-82.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$157.50 SOS89,709	$866.78 LAK18,761,296	+450.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$87.50 SOS49,838	$784.74 LAK16,985,533	+796.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.28 SOS36,043	$55.21 LAK1,194,967	-12.8%
Average			+287.8%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.6 times more for childcare

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$50.00 SOS28,479	$338.54 LAK7,327,607	+577.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$570.00 SOS324,660	$9,334.55 LAK202,044,727	+1537.6%
Average			+1057.3%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.00 SOS2,278	$1.50 LAK32,475	-62.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 SOS854	$1.73 LAK37,470	+15.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.20 SOS684	$1.96 LAK42,468	+63.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.67 SOS18,037	$50.52 LAK1,093,567	+59.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.56 LAK77,021
Average			+19.0%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 82.7% more for clothing

	Mogadishu	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.50 SOS9,968	$27.70 LAK599,542	+58.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.33 SOS13,860	$69.25 LAK1,498,854	+184.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$26.67 SOS15,189	$58.22 LAK1,260,106	+118.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.50 SOS34,460	$42.19 LAK913,170	-30.3%
Average			+82.7%

Mogadishu vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Mogadishu vs.

Reykjavik

Mogadishu vs.

Madrid

Mogadishu vs.

Phnom Penh

Mogadishu vs.

Ottawa

Mogadishu vs.

Nairobi

Mogadishu vs.

Mexico City

Mogadishu vs.

Moscow

Mogadishu vs.

Hong Kong

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Somalia vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Somalia and Laos.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Mogadishu

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vientiane or Mogadishu. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.