Cost of living comparison

Tonga

compared to

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat vs. Nuku'alofa Cost of Living Summary

Ashgabat is 92.1% more expensive than Nuku'alofa.

Restaurants: pay 66.4% more in Ashgabat
Groceries: pay 76.8% more in Ashgabat
Transportation: pay 21.5% less in Ashgabat
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Ashgabat
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Ashgabat
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.5% more in Ashgabat
Clothing: pay 7.3 times more in Ashgabat

The cost of clothing, childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Ashgabat are more expensive than in Nuku'alofa. Notably, clothing, childcare, and housing are significantly more expensive in Ashgabat.

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Ashgabat vs. Nuku'alofa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 66.4% more for restaurants

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$31.43 TMT110.31	+278.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$12.86 TMT45.13	+23.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$1.57 TMT5.52	-44.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$0.86 TMT3.01	-65.1%
Average			+66.4%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.8% more for groceries

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$2.04 TMT7.15	+96.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$18.82 TMT66.06	+318.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$17.09 TMT59.98	+188.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$6.00 TMT21.06	+17.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$9.07 TMT31.84	+239.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$2.30 TMT8.07	+83.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$3.84 TMT13.49	+206.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$3.40 TMT11.94	+158.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$1.67 TMT5.87	-1.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$1.04 TMT3.64	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$0.65 TMT2.27	-45.7%
Average			+76.8%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.5% less for transportation

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$1.62 TMT5.69	-70.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$10.00 TMT35.10	-75.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$43,928.57 TMT154K	+655.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$9.71 TMT34.10	-48.0%
Average			-21.5%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$102.86 TMT361.03	-17.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$1,414.29 TMT4,964.14	+127.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$1,000.00 TMT3,510.00
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$436.97 TMT1,533.78	+205.7%
Average			+124.8%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$22.86 TMT80.23	-85.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$24,807.14 TMT87,073.07	+9854.9%
Average			+279.7%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$5.71 TMT20.06	+72.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$6.79 TMT23.82	+133.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$25.71 TMT90.26	+152.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$195.24 TMT685.29	+526.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$8.57 TMT30.09	-79.4%
Average			+54.5%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.3 times more for clothing

	Nuku'alofa	Ashgabat
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$55.71 TMT195.56	+283.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$114.29 TMT401.14	+547.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$364.29 TMT1,278.64	+1654.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$192.86 TMT676.93	+563.4%
Average			+633.1%

Nuku'alofa vs. Ashgabat - 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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