Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Mongolia Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 41.5% more expensive than Mongolia overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.7% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 17.0% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 3.3 times more in Laos
Housing: pay 44.1% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 58.8% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.7% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 35.1% less in Laos

The cost of transportation, childcare, housing, and groceries in Laos are more expensive than in Mongolia. Expenses including clothing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are lower in Laos. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Laos.

Laos vs. Mongolia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Mongolia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.7% less for restaurants

	Mongolia	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT19,913.00	$2.08 LAK44,966	-62.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.41 MNT19,365.39	$5.54 LAK119,908	+2.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 MNT2,588.69	$0.76 LAK16,442	+5.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MNT1,637.41	$0.50 LAK10,718	+8.3%
Average			-11.7%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.0% more for groceries

	Mongolia	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 MNT3,304.31	$1.13 LAK24,563	+23.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.86 MNT21,008.22	$13.26 LAK287,030	+126.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.29 MNT18,955.04	$6.91 LAK149,595	+30.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 MNT7,329.93	$2.11 LAK45,582	+2.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.65 MNT9,484.02	$2.10 LAK45,369	-20.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.34 MNT4,786.76	$0.76 LAK16,404	-43.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 MNT3,703.28	$0.75 LAK16,237	-27.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.87 MNT6,683.97	$0.97 LAK20,984	-48.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 MNT4,177.48	$1.30 LAK28,220	+11.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MNT1,106.47	$0.70 LAK15,259	+128.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 MNT1,580.67	$0.46 LAK9,907	+3.7%
Average			+17.0%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.3 times more for transportation

	Mongolia	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 MNT13,555.64	$4.72 LAK102,223	+24.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.34 MNT29,869.50	$54.89 LAK1,188,021	+558.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,628.61 MNT102,551,962.31	$28,639.89 LAK619,905,563
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.00 MNT17,921.70	$10.51 LAK227,430	+110.0%
Average			+231.0%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.1% more for housing

	Mongolia	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.74 MNT49,201.71	$9.16 LAK198,182	-33.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$503.97 MNT1,805,294.99	$1,004.64 LAK21,745,269	+99.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.69 MNT1,413,823.17	$817.42 LAK17,693,017	+107.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.01 MNT207,795.08	$59.90 LAK1,296,616	+3.3%
Average			+44.1%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 58.8% more for childcare

	Mongolia	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.77 MNT597,390.07	$296.67 LAK6,421,270	+77.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,632.97 MNT23,760,294.02	$9,267.93 LAK200,602,878	+39.7%
Average			+58.8%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Mongolia	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 MNT6,969.55	$1.42 LAK30,724	-27.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,675.43	$1.66 LAK35,847	-31.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.71 MNT6,142.65	$1.98 LAK42,881	+15.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.49 MNT248,912.53	$67.50 LAK1,461,034	-2.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.89 MNT13,939.10	$3.02 LAK65,425	-22.3%
Average			-13.7%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.1% less for clothing

	Mongolia	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.91 MNT293,429.59	$50.20 LAK1,086,669	-38.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.60 MNT234,973.23	$65.21 LAK1,411,421	-0.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.97 MNT354,518.77	$66.39 LAK1,436,936	-32.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.55 MNT539,310.48	$47.52 LAK1,028,648	-68.4%
Average			-35.1%

Mongolia vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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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

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