Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 39.8% cheaper than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 47.4% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 26.2% less in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 13.5% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 33.9% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 88.2% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.6% less in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 68.4% less in Sri Lanka

Expenses including childcare, clothing, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 47.4% less for restaurants

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.07 NIO260.53	$2.19 LKR726.11	-69.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 NIO255.89	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	-10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 NIO31.77	$0.82 LKR270.87	-5.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 NIO22.88	$0.31 LKR101.62	-50.6%
Average			-47.4%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.2% less for groceries

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 NIO62.93	$0.50 LKR164.88	-70.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 NIO136.25	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+38.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.65 NIO171.26	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+7.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 NIO86.37	$1.59 LKR525.48	-32.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.55 NIO93.99	$1.92 LKR637.54	-24.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$2.39 LKR790.19	+31.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$0.33 LKR110.92	+23.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$1.65 LKR546.03	+101.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO40.73	$0.59 LKR195.36	-46.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 NIO61.77	$0.45 LKR150.14	-73.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$0.34 LKR113.13	-66.1%
Average			-26.2%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.5% less for transportation

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 NIO186.17	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	-5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-18.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+28.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.49 NIO497.29	$2.96 LKR979.01	-78.1%
Average			-13.5%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.9% less for housing

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	-49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	-14.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	-41.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	-48.3%
Average			-33.9%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 88.2% less for childcare

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	-88.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,060.00 NIO223K	$711.79 LKR236K	-88.3%
Average			-88.2%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.40 NIO51.60	$2.16 LKR714.17	+54.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$2.16 LKR713.82	-17.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+263.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-70.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	-59.5%
Average			-29.6%

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 68.4% less for clothing

	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	-63.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-79.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	-41.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	-76.8%
Average			-68.4%

Nicaragua 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: Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 57.6% more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Nicaragua is about 2 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Nicaragua to Sri Lanka · Cost, visas & climate

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