Cost of living comparison
compared to
Maldives vs. Palau Cost of Living Summary
Maldives is 14.2% cheaper than Palau overall.
Maldives vs. Palau Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Maldives instead of Palau, you would:
pay 38.8% less for restaurants
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$13.50
|
$6.00
MVR92.74
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$9.57
MVR147.88
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.37
|
$1.63
MVR25.12
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.07
|
$0.30
MVR4.59
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants
pay 49.7% less for groceries
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.44
|
$1.65
MVR25.57
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.00
|
$3.48
MVR53.75
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$9.97
|
$6.83
MVR105.52
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.45
|
$1.87
MVR28.89
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.30
|
$2.76
MVR42.72
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.40
|
$1.80
MVR27.83
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$1.39
MVR21.40
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.50
|
$1.59
MVR24.56
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$7.50
|
$1.22
MVR18.83
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$0.75
MVR11.63
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$0.69
MVR10.63
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries
pay 6.6% less for transportation
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$7.34
|
$3.81
MVR58.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$30.82
MVR476.23
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$17,500.00
|
$32,446.46
MVR501K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$17.52
MVR270.70
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation
pay 31.4% more for housing
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$199.00
|
$73.00
MVR1,127.92
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$725.00
|
$1,043.39
MVR16,120.31
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$525.00
|
$739.32
MVR11,422.43
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$85.19
MVR1,316.15
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of housing
pay 26.0% less for childcare
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$250.00
|
$184.92
MVR2,857.02
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$3,003.87
MVR46,409.85
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare
pay 25.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.50
|
$4.87
MVR75.19
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.08
|
$3.55
MVR54.82
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$15.00
|
$13.95
MVR215.56
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$80.00
|
$70.81
MVR1,093.98
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$9.73
MVR150.39
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 54.5% less for clothing
|
Palau
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$85.00
|
$39.51
MVR610.41
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$65.00
|
$49.63
MVR766.77
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$195.00
|
$87.11
MVR1,345.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$195.00
|
$52.50
MVR811.17
|
|
Palau vs. Maldives - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Palau vs. Maldives
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Maldives?
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Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics
Make 25.2% less money in Maldives
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Size Comparison · See true size
Palau is about 1.5 times bigger than Maldives.
→
Moving from Palau to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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