Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 23.6% more expensive than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 40.6% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 6.8% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 46.6% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 23.1% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.7% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 35.2% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 40.6% less for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 KHR20,025.00	$2.31 LAK49,966	-53.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,035.00	$5.54 LAK119,918	-20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.93 KHR3,722.29	$0.62 LAK13,418	-33.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 KHR3,657.75	$0.42 LAK8,994	-54.5%
Average			-40.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.8% less for groceries

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 KHR6,610.31	$1.17 LAK25,265	-29.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 KHR26,833.50	$13.94 LAK301,727	+108.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.17 KHR32,711.86	$7.32 LAK158,421	-10.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 KHR7,284.65	$1.81 LAK39,212	-0.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.01 KHR8,043.68	$2.99 LAK64,765	+49.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 KHR7,251.42	$0.90 LAK19,390	-50.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,542.45	$0.50 LAK10,828	-43.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 KHR7,666.22	$0.94 LAK20,322	-51.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 KHR2,942.96	$0.61 LAK13,145	-17.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,512.17	$0.74 LAK16,016	-15.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 KHR2,149.69	$0.47 LAK10,073	-13.3%
Average			-6.8%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.33 KHR17,341.84	$5.18 LAK112,104	+19.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.60 KHR38,448.00	$50.18 LAK1,086,211	+422.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,000.00 KHR196,245,000.00	$28,736.24 LAK622,040,039	-41.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 KHR36,256.50	$10.86 LAK235,047	+19.9%
Average			+105.2%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.6% more for housing

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.29 KHR85,250.07	$11.39 LAK246,498	-46.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$481.60 KHR1,928,817.37	$866.78 LAK18,762,772	+80.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$273.92 KHR1,097,042.67	$784.74 LAK16,986,870	+186.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.99 KHR332,359.07	$55.21 LAK1,195,061	-33.5%
Average			+46.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 23.1% more for childcare

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$293.33 KHR1,174,800.00	$338.54 LAK7,328,183	+15.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,141.67 KHR28,602,375.00	$9,334.55 LAK202,060,626	+30.7%
Average			+23.1%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.21 KHR4,838.88	$1.50 LAK32,478	+24.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 KHR10,117.89	$1.73 LAK37,473	-31.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.88 KHR7,509.38	$1.96 LAK42,471	+4.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 KHR166,875.00	$50.52 LAK1,093,653	+21.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 KHR15,018.75	$3.56 LAK77,027	-5.1%
Average			+2.7%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.2% more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.75 KHR103,128.75	$27.70 LAK599,589	+7.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.33 KHR93,450.00	$69.25 LAK1,498,972	+196.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.00 KHR352,440.00	$58.22 LAK1,260,206	-33.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.20 KHR241,101.00	$42.19 LAK913,242	-29.9%
Average			+35.2%

Phnom Penh vs. Vientiane - 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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