Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 32.1% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 21.6% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 53.9% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 14.7% more in Laos
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 19.0% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.0% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 73.0% more in Laos

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

Laos vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.6% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES747.37	$2.08 LAK44,966	-64.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES896.85	$5.54 LAK119,908	-20.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.36	$0.76 LAK16,442	+8.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES70.70	$0.50 LAK10,718	-9.8%
Average			-21.6%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.9% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.35	$1.13 LAK24,563	+107.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES716.71	$13.26 LAK287,030	+138.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES432.07	$6.91 LAK149,595	+105.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES211.74	$2.11 LAK45,582	+28.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES375.75	$2.10 LAK45,369	-28.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.11	$0.76 LAK16,404	-46.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.12	$0.75 LAK16,237	+58.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES114.54	$0.97 LAK20,984	+9.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES58.73	$1.30 LAK28,220	+185.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.20	$0.70 LAK15,259	+43.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.21	$0.46 LAK9,907	-9.6%
Average			+53.9%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.7% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES695.11	$4.72 LAK102,223	-12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES3,985.98	$54.89 LAK1,188,021	+77.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,790,186.52	$28,639.89 LAK619,905,563	+32.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,192.29	$10.51 LAK227,430	-38.3%
Average			+14.7%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Nairobi	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,132.38	$9.16 LAK198,182	-77.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,406.69	$1,004.64 LAK21,745,269	+110.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,561.75	$817.42 LAK17,693,017	+296.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,775.48	$59.90 LAK1,296,616	+104.3%
Average			+108.5%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 19.0% more for childcare

	Nairobi	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,856.84	$296.67 LAK6,421,270	+32.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,129,767.62	$9,267.93 LAK200,602,878	+5.6%
Average			+19.0%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES298.95	$1.42 LAK30,724	-38.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES305.12	$1.66 LAK35,847	-30.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES398.60	$1.98 LAK42,881	-36.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,831.99	$67.50 LAK1,461,034	+49.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES946.67	$3.02 LAK65,425	-58.9%
Average			-23.0%

Nairobi vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 73.0% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,526.41	$50.20 LAK1,086,669	+155.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,203.02	$65.21 LAK1,411,421	+162.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,744.25	$66.39 LAK1,436,936	-2.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,017.80	$47.52 LAK1,028,648	-23.7%
Average			+73.0%

Nairobi 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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