Cost of living comparison

Nepal

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Nepal Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 45.8% more expensive than Nepal overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.0% more in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 74.6% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 21.0% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 60.2% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.2% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 9.1% more in Sri Lanka

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

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Sri Lanka vs. Nepal Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Nepal, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.0% more for restaurants

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.97 NPR299.13	$2.19 LKR726.11	+11.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.74 NPR1,024.60	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	-8.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 NPR70.05	$0.82 LKR270.87	+77.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 NPR21.00	$0.31 LKR101.62	+122.2%
Average			+17.0%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 74.6% more for groceries

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.47 NPR72.17	$0.50 LKR164.88	+4.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.10 NPR471.31	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+64.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.53 NPR385.06	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+97.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.39 NPR211.96	$1.59 LKR525.48	+13.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.29 NPR196.68	$1.92 LKR637.54	+48.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 NPR138.06	$2.39 LKR790.19	+162.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 NPR60.15	$0.33 LKR110.92	-15.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.48 NPR73.03	$1.65 LKR546.03	+243.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 NPR37.49	$0.59 LKR195.36	+139.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.16 NPR24.01	$0.45 LKR150.14	+187.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 NPR34.25	$0.34 LKR113.13	+51.7%
Average			+74.6%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.0% less for transportation

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 NPR656.58	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	+10.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.73 NPR1,632.25	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-54.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,812.36 NPR4M	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+10.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.54 NPR1,298.08	$2.96 LKR979.01	-65.4%
Average			-21.0%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.34 NPR1,268.78	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	+95.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$88.47 NPR13,454.59	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	+184.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$57.13 NPR8,688.16	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	+151.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.42 NPR3,561.23	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	+52.8%
Average			+142.1%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 60.2% less for childcare

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$47.95 NPR7,292.39	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	-41.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,626.40 NPR399K	$711.79 LKR236K	-72.9%
Average			-60.2%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.34 NPR355.64	$2.16 LKR714.17	-7.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.32 NPR201.11	$2.16 LKR713.82	+63.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 NPR356.61	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+322.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$16.63 NPR2,528.59	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-41.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.42 NPR368.54	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	+50.3%
Average			+21.2%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.1% more for clothing

	Nepal	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.01 NPR3,195.31	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	+3.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.87 NPR4,086.50	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-51.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$36.07 NPR5,485.09	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	+98.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$23.87 NPR3,630.11	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	+40.8%
Average			+9.1%

Nepal vs. Sri Lanka - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Nepal vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sri Lanka?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 3.3 times more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Nepal is about 2.2 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Nepal to Sri Lanka · UN DESA 2020

343 people born in Nepal live in Sri Lanka.

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