Cost of living comparison

Papua New Guinea

compared to

Nicaragua

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 44.8% cheaper than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.3% more in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 37.7% less in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 40.2% less in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 66.5% less in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 47.6% less in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.9% less in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 31.5% more in Nicaragua

The cost of clothing and restaurants in Nicaragua are more expensive than in Papua New Guinea. Expenses including housing, childcare, transportation, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Nicaragua.

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Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3% more for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.78 PGK35.37	$7.07 NIO260.53	-9.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 PGK25.27	$6.94 NIO255.89	+25.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 PGK3.41	$0.86 NIO31.77	+14.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 PGK3.03	$0.62 NIO22.88	-6.9%
Average			+4.3%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.7% less for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 PGK6.91	$1.71 NIO62.93	+12.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.32 PGK19.64	$3.70 NIO136.25	-14.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.10 PGK32.28	$4.65 NIO171.26	-34.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.69 PGK16.78	$2.34 NIO86.37	-36.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.58 PGK11.75	$2.55 NIO93.99	-1.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 PGK8.88	$1.82 NIO67.08	-6.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.44 PGK6.57	$0.27 NIO10.03	-81.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.29 PGK14.97	$0.82 NIO30.09	-75.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.92 PGK13.29	$1.11 NIO40.73	-62.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.51 PGK6.88	$1.68 NIO61.77	+10.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.31 PGK5.96	$1.01 NIO37.13	-23.1%
Average			-37.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 40.2% less for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 PGK17.18	$5.05 NIO186.17	+33.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.22 PGK101.06	$6.01 NIO221.41	-73.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,004.77 PGK227K	$22,973.64 NIO847K	-54.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.34 PGK106.12	$13.49 NIO497.29	-42.2%
Average			-40.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.5% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$91.68 PGK416.89	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	-64.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,603.86 PGK7,293.44	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	-81.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.61 PGK2,526.59	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	-55.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$89.65 PGK407.67	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	-22.8%
Average			-66.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 47.6% less for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$842.47 PGK3,831.07	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	-72.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,176.41 PGK28,086.83	$6,060.00 NIO223K	-1.9%
Average			-47.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 PGK13.64	$1.40 NIO51.60	-53.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.47 PGK11.24	$2.60 NIO95.82	+5.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.45 PGK29.31	$2.73 NIO100.51	-57.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.49 PGK279.61	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	-47.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.89 PGK40.43	$9.00 NIO331.69	+1.2%
Average			-31.9%

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

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pay 31.5% more for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$32.73 PGK148.82	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+83.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.67 PGK144.02	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+105.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$136.12 PGK619.02	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	-9.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$163.90 PGK745.35	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	-11.6%
Average			+31.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua - 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

Compare further: Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Be 4.3 times more likely to have access to electricity in Nicaragua

Size Comparison · See true size

Papua New Guinea is about 3.5 times bigger than Nicaragua.

Moving from Papua New Guinea to Nicaragua · Cost, visas & climate

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