Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malaysia vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 28.1% cheaper than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 40.2% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 30.8% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 26.3% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 73.7% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 8.0% less in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.6% less in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 5.7% more in Malaysia

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

Malaysia vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.2% less for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.87 PGK76.59	$3.22 MYR13.31	-82.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.92 PGK25.38	$4.41 MYR18.24	-25.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.44	$0.73 MYR3.01	-9.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 PGK3.02	$0.39 MYR1.63	-44.2%
Average			-40.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.8% less for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 PGK6.66	$1.02 MYR4.21	-34.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.60 PGK15.44	$7.79 MYR32.19	+116.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.76 PGK33.26	$6.67 MYR27.55	-14.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.00 PGK17.16	$1.99 MYR8.21	-50.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.63 PGK15.56	$1.93 MYR7.99	-46.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99 PGK8.52	$1.28 MYR5.29	-35.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 PGK5.66	$0.67 MYR2.75	-49.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.73 PGK11.72	$1.29 MYR5.34	-52.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 PGK6.96	$0.73 MYR3.03	-54.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58 PGK6.78	$0.53 MYR2.20	-66.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.18 PGK5.06	$0.59 MYR2.42	-50.4%
Average			-30.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.3% less for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.22 PGK18.07	$1.86 MYR7.67	-56.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.69 PGK101.54	$15.26 MYR63.08	-35.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,387.96 PGK95,952.53	$35,849.31 MYR148,147.28	+60.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.88 PGK106.61	$6.52 MYR26.93	-73.8%
Average			-26.3%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 73.7% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$165.84 PGK710.76	$27.18 MYR112.33	-83.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,652.44 PGK11,368.07	$349.73 MYR1,445.27	-86.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.54 PGK3,251.04	$247.40 MYR1,022.40	-67.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.08 PGK343.20	$34.37 MYR142.05	-57.1%
Average			-73.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 8.0% less for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$631.76 PGK2,707.66	$170.62 MYR705.09	-73.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,968.24 PGK17,007.46	$6,229.51 MYR25,743.43	+57.0%
Average			-8.0%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 PGK12.75	$3.72 MYR15.38	+25.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 PGK10.96	$2.63 MYR10.85	+2.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.96 PGK29.82	$4.18 MYR17.26	-40.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$73.52 PGK315.10	$36.40 MYR150.42	-50.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.30 PGK44.14	$4.62 MYR19.07	-55.2%
Average			-23.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.7% more for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$31.15 PGK133.52	$59.37 MYR245.35	+90.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.48 PGK156.37	$29.69 MYR122.68	-18.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.40 PGK327.46	$70.68 MYR292.07	-7.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.73 PGK418.84	$56.86 MYR234.98	-41.8%
Average			+5.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malaysia - Cost of clothing

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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

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