Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kota Kinabalu vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Kota Kinabalu is 46.6% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 69.8% less in Kota Kinabalu
Groceries: pay 20.2% less in Kota Kinabalu
Transportation: pay 42.6% less in Kota Kinabalu
Housing: pay 65.2% less in Kota Kinabalu
Childcare: pay 75.2% less in Kota Kinabalu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.3% less in Kota Kinabalu
Clothing: pay 11.1% less in Kota Kinabalu

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Kota Kinabalu.

Kota Kinabalu vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kota Kinabalu instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.8% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 CA$24.87	$3.55 MYR14.61	-80.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.01 CA$15.22	$4.74 MYR19.48	-56.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CA$2.77	$0.67 MYR2.77	-66.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.56 CA$2.15	$0.38 MYR1.56	-75.7%
Average			-69.8%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.2% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.73 CA$3.77	$1.15 MYR4.71	-58.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.85 CA$8.09	$13.03 MYR53.58	+122.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$11.97	$6.50 MYR26.73	-24.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.52 CA$4.86	$2.54 MYR10.42	-27.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.74 CA$7.94	$1.85 MYR7.61	-67.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.91 CA$2.64	$1.24 MYR5.08	-35.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 CA$0.83	$0.56 MYR2.28	-7.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 CA$2.25	$1.77 MYR7.29	+8.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 CA$2.30	$0.86 MYR3.54	-48.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 CA$1.53	$0.68 MYR2.80	-38.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 CA$2.02	$0.79 MYR3.24	-46.0%
Average			-20.2%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.6% less for transportation

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.05 CA$5.60	$1.84 MYR7.56	-54.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$97.12 CA$134.31	$41.21 MYR169.42	-57.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,444.83 CA$33,803.54	$28,436.02 MYR116,900.47	+16.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.82 CA$20.49	$3.79 MYR15.59	-74.4%
Average			-42.6%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 65.2% less for housing

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.93 CA$69.04	$33.00 MYR135.65	-33.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,452.55 CA$2,008.67	$379.15 MYR1,558.67	-73.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,228.71 CA$1,699.13	$165.88 MYR681.92	-86.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.93 CA$164.46	$39.62 MYR162.89	-66.7%
Average			-65.2%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 75.2% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$788.18 CA$1,089.93	$130.33 MYR535.79	-83.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,753.32 CA$21,784.48	$5,213.27 MYR21,431.75	-66.9%
Average			-75.2%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.76 CA$7.96	$2.37 MYR9.74	-58.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.74 CA$5.18	$2.65 MYR10.88	-29.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.95 CA$17.91	$4.15 MYR17.05	-68.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.60 CA$61.68	$43.44 MYR178.60	-2.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.79 CA$14.92	$5.09 MYR20.94	-52.8%
Average			-42.3%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.1% less for clothing

	Ottawa	Kota Kinabalu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.82 CA$73.05	$59.77 MYR245.73	+13.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.91 CA$53.81	$22.90 MYR94.14	-41.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.10 CA$120.44	$71.09 MYR292.25	-18.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.91 CA$128.48	$94.79 MYR389.67	+2.0%
Average			-11.1%

Ottawa vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Ottawa vs.

Dodoma

Ottawa vs.

Prague

Ottawa vs.

Bangkok

Ottawa vs.

London

Ottawa vs.

Delhi

Ottawa vs.

Cairo

Ottawa vs.

Mexico City

Ottawa vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Canada vs. Malaysia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Canada and Malaysia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ottawa

Add prices for Kota Kinabalu

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Kota Kinabalu or Ottawa. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.