Cost of living comparison

Mauritania

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Nouakchott Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 2.9% more expensive than Nouakchott.

Restaurants: pay 2.5% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 20.6% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 18.3% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 31.4% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 88.3% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.7% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 2.7% less in Colombo

The cost of housing, groceries, and transportation in Colombo are more expensive than in Nouakchott. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Colombo.

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Colombo vs. Nouakchott Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Nouakchott, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5% less for restaurants

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.49 MRO895	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+53.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.93 MRO2,130	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+27.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 MRO632	$0.70 LKR232.56	-60.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 MRO770	$0.26 LKR87.00	-87.7%
Average			-2.5%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.6% more for groceries

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.27 MRO96	$0.55 LKR181.98	+105.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.99 MRO1,074	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+130.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.02 MRO2,160	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+0.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.32 MRO832	$1.64 LKR541.78	-29.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MRO882	$2.21 LKR731.08	-10.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.44 MRO518	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+112.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.84 MRO302	$0.37 LKR122.81	-56.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 MRO257	$2.03 LKR672.87	+184.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 MRO185	$0.57 LKR187.42	+10.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 MRO157	$0.46 LKR150.85	+3.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 MRO147	$0.35 LKR116.82	-14.0%
Average			+20.6%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.3% more for transportation

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.42 MRO1,945	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	-5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.81 MRO7,831	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-67.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,478.76 MRO3M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+395.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.86 MRO1,387	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-14.7%
Average			+18.3%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.4% more for housing

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.83 MRO21,479	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-65.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$291.49 MRO105K	$589.61 LKR195K	+102.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$174.41 MRO62,615	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+55.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$98.49 MRO35,360	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-58.2%
Average			+31.4%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 88.3% less for childcare

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$443.74 MRO159K	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-91.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,503.69 MRO3M	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-83.9%
Average			-88.3%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.75 MRO626	$2.21 LKR730.76	+26.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 MRO819	$2.51 LKR832.69	+10.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.49 MRO895	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+312.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$86.63 MRO31,100	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-83.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.05 MRO1,454	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+11.9%
Average			-19.7%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7% less for clothing

	Nouakchott	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$15.21 MRO5,459	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	+19.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.85 MRO8,204	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-27.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.31 MRO24,522	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	+15.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.74 MRO16,780	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-10.6%
Average			-2.7%

Nouakchott vs. Colombo - 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

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