Cost of living comparison

Vanuatu

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Port Vila Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 64.4% cheaper than Port Vila.

Restaurants: pay 79.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 65.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 46.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 74.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 55.1% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 10.1% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Port Vila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Port Vila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 79.5% less for restaurants

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.67 VUV1,500	$1.92 ₫49,832	-84.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.35 VUV1,700	$4.62 ₫120K	-67.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 VUV270	$0.54 ₫13,905	-76.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 VUV279	$0.33 ₫8,590	-85.9%
Average			-79.5%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 65.6% less for groceries

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 VUV230	$1.08 ₫27,843	-44.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.86 VUV1,050	$6.05 ₫157K	-31.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.63 VUV1,259	$6.13 ₫159K	-42.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.23 VUV737	$1.62 ₫42,008	-73.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.40 VUV877	$1.64 ₫42,570	-77.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 VUV384	$1.36 ₫35,261	-58.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$0.58 ₫14,953	-39.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 VUV211	$0.72 ₫18,715	-59.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.21 VUV499	$0.58 ₫14,918	-86.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$4.02 VUV476	$0.54 ₫14,104	-86.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.57 VUV186	$0.53 ₫13,662	-66.4%
Average			-65.6%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.8% less for transportation

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.78 VUV803	$3.55 ₫91,950	-47.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.55 VUV8,000	$11.55 ₫299K	-82.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,220.47 VUV3M	$30,715.02 ₫795M	+32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.29 VUV1,100	$5.80 ₫150K	-37.5%
Average			-46.8%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.8% less for housing

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$363.08 VUV43,000	$10.46 ₫271K	-97.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,579.90 VUV187K	$585.86 ₫15M	-62.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,131.05 VUV134K	$297.81 ₫8M	-73.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$484.28 VUV57,353	$79.24 ₫2M	-83.6%
Average			-74.8%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 55.1% more for childcare

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$624.84 VUV74,000	$438.36 ₫11M	-29.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,873.26 VUV814K	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+242.8%
Average			+55.1%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.07 VUV600	$1.03 ₫26,762	-79.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.08 VUV483	$1.81 ₫46,978	-55.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.29 VUV1,100	$1.23 ₫31,892	-86.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.29 VUV8,088	$25.91 ₫671K	-62.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.46 ₫89,697
Average			-70.8%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.1% less for clothing

	Port Vila	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.99 VUV4,854	$51.59 ₫1M	+25.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.55 VUV8,000	$34.61 ₫896K	-48.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.40 VUV9,995	$91.59 ₫2M	+8.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.28 VUV11,995	$94.62 ₫2M	-6.6%
Average			-10.1%

Port Vila vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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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