Cost of living comparison

compared to

Asmara vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

Asmara is 51.8% more expensive than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 42.4% more in Asmara
Groceries: pay 58.2% more in Asmara
Transportation: pay 38.7% more in Asmara
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Asmara
Childcare: pay 84.0% less in Asmara
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.8% less in Asmara
Clothing: pay 2.6 times more in Asmara

The cost of housing, clothing, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Asmara are more expensive than in Phnom Penh. Expenses including childcare and entertainment and sports are lower in Asmara. Notably, housing and clothing are significantly more expensive in Asmara.

Asmara vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Asmara instead of Phnom Penh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.4% more for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 KHR20,116.49	$12.00 ERN180.00	+140.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,163.09	$5.99 ERN89.85	-14.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.93 KHR3,739.30	$1.25 ERN18.75	+34.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 KHR3,674.46	$1.00 ERN15.00	+9.5%
Average			+42.4%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.2% more for groceries

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 KHR6,640.51	??
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 KHR26,956.10	$1.50 ERN22.50	-77.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.17 KHR32,861.32	$5.30 ERN79.49	-35.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 KHR7,317.93	$4.38 ERN65.70	+140.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.01 KHR8,080.43	$12.17 ERN182.57	+506.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 KHR7,284.55	$5.54 ERN83.16	+206.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,558.63	$0.58 ERN8.69	-34.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 KHR7,701.25	$0.91 ERN13.61	-52.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 KHR2,956.40	$0.50 ERN7.56	-31.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,528.22	$0.70 ERN10.43	-20.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 KHR2,159.51	$0.43 ERN6.50	-19.2%
Average			+58.2%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.7% more for transportation

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.33 KHR17,421.07	$8.52 ERN127.76	+96.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.60 KHR38,623.67	$8.00 ERN120.00	-16.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,000.00 KHR197,141,648.75	$66,666.00 ERN999,990.00	+36.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 KHR36,422.16	??
Average			+38.7%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.29 KHR85,639.58	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+839.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$481.60 KHR1,937,630.19	$475.00 ERN7,125.00	-1.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$273.92 KHR1,102,055.09	$400.00 ERN6,000.00	+46.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.99 KHR333,877.62	$21.03 ERN315.44	-74.7%
Average			+202.4%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 84.0% less for childcare

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$293.33 KHR1,180,167.69	$25.00 ERN375.00	-91.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,141.67 KHR28,733,060.03	$1,675.00 ERN25,125.00	-76.5%
Average			-84.0%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.21 KHR4,860.99	$0.80 ERN12.00	-33.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 KHR10,164.12	$0.82 ERN12.38	-67.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.88 KHR7,543.69	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 KHR167,637.46	$27.00 ERN405.00	-35.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 KHR15,087.37	$1.10 ERN16.50	-70.7%
Average			-51.8%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.6 times more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	Asmara
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.75 KHR103,599.95	$82.50 ERN1,237.50	+220.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.33 KHR93,876.98	$75.00 ERN1,125.00	+221.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.00 KHR354,050.31	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+127.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.20 KHR242,202.60	$95.00 ERN1,425.00	+57.8%
Average			+156.7%

Phnom Penh vs. Asmara - 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: November 2025

More cost comparisons

Phnom Penh vs.

Prague

Phnom Penh vs.

Ottawa

Phnom Penh vs.

Kiev

Phnom Penh vs.

Quito

Phnom Penh vs.

Warsaw

Phnom Penh vs.

Lima

Phnom Penh vs.

Wellington

Phnom Penh vs.

Cairo

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Phnom Penh

Add prices for Asmara

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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