Cost of living comparison

compared to

Apia vs. Nuku'alofa Cost of Living Summary

Apia is 55.8% cheaper than Nuku'alofa.

Restaurants
pay 2.2 times more in Apia
Groceries
pay 29.9% less in Apia
Transportation
pay 0.9% less in Apia
Housing
pay 87.2% less in Apia
Entertainment and Sports
pay 8.1% less in Apia

Expenses including housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Apia. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Apia.

Apia vs. Nuku'alofa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Apia instead of Nuku'alofa, you would:

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $8.31
TOP20.00
$47.26
WST130.00
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.38
TOP25.00
$14.54
WST40.00
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.84
TOP6.83
$1.82
WST5.00

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pay 29.9% less for groceries

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Bread
1 loaf
$1.04
TOP2.50
$0.82
WST2.25
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.50
TOP10.83
$0.45
WST1.25
Milk (1 gallon) $5.92
TOP14.26
$6.88
WST18.93

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pay 0.9% less for transportation

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.50
TOP13.25
$4.13
WST11.36
Monthly public transit pass $41.53
TOP100.00
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $5,814.53
TOP14,000.00
??

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pay 87.2% less for housing

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$124.60
TOP300.00
$36.35
WST100.00
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $622.99
TOP1,500.00
??
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? ??

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $157.82
TOP380.00
??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $249.19
TOP600.00
??

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pay 8.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.32
TOP8.00
$3.45
WST9.50
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
TOP7.00
$2.91
WST8.00
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.18
TOP24.50
$6.18
WST17.00

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Nuku'alofa
Apia
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$14.54
TOP35.00
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$17.65
TOP42.50
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$20.77
TOP50.00
??

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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