Cost of living comparison

Vanuatu

compared to

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat vs. Port Vila Cost of Living Summary

Ashgabat is 9.7% cheaper than Port Vila.

Restaurants: pay 26.1% more in Ashgabat
Groceries: pay 0.3% less in Ashgabat
Transportation: pay 54.3% less in Ashgabat
Housing: pay 15.8% less in Ashgabat
Childcare: pay 63.7% less in Ashgabat
Entertainment and Sports: pay 92.2% more in Ashgabat
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Ashgabat

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

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Ashgabat vs. Port Vila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ashgabat instead of Port Vila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.1% more for restaurants

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.67 VUV1,500	$31.43 TMT110.31	+148.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.35 VUV1,700	$12.86 TMT45.13	-10.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 VUV270	$1.57 TMT5.52	-31.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 VUV279	$0.86 TMT3.01	-63.6%
Average			+26.1%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.3% less for groceries

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 VUV230	$2.04 TMT7.15	+4.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.86 VUV1,050	$18.82 TMT66.06	+112.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.63 VUV1,259	$17.09 TMT59.98	+60.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.23 VUV737	$6.00 TMT21.06	-3.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.40 VUV877	$9.07 TMT31.84	+22.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 VUV384	$2.30 TMT8.07	-29.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$3.84 TMT13.49	+301.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 VUV211	$3.40 TMT11.94	+91.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.21 VUV499	$1.67 TMT5.87	-60.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$4.02 VUV476	$1.04 TMT3.64	-74.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.57 VUV186	$0.65 TMT2.27	-58.7%
Average			-0.3%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.3% less for transportation

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.78 VUV803	$1.62 TMT5.69	-76.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.55 VUV8,000	$10.00 TMT35.10	-85.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,220.47 VUV3M	$43,928.57 TMT154K	+89.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.29 VUV1,100	$9.71 TMT34.10	+4.6%
Average			-54.3%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.8% less for housing

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$363.08 VUV43,000	$102.86 TMT361.03	-71.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,579.90 VUV187K	$1,414.29 TMT4,964.14	-10.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,131.05 VUV134K	$1,000.00 TMT3,510.00	-11.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$484.28 VUV57,353	$436.97 TMT1,533.78	-9.8%
Average			-15.8%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of housing

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pay 63.7% less for childcare

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$624.84 VUV74,000	$22.86 TMT80.23	-96.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,873.26 VUV814K	$24,807.14 TMT87,073.07	+260.9%
Average			-63.7%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of childcare

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pay 92.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.07 VUV600	$5.71 TMT20.06	+12.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.08 VUV483	$6.79 TMT23.82	+66.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.29 VUV1,100	$25.71 TMT90.26	+176.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.29 VUV8,088	$195.24 TMT685.29	+185.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.57 TMT30.09
Average			+92.2%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Port Vila	Ashgabat
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.99 VUV4,854	$55.71 TMT195.56	+35.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.55 VUV8,000	$114.29 TMT401.14	+69.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.40 VUV9,995	$364.29 TMT1,278.64	+331.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.28 VUV11,995	$192.86 TMT676.93	+90.4%
Average			+108.5%

Port Vila vs. Ashgabat - 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

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