Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 36.9% cheaper than Rwanda overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.6% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 31.5% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 49.9% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 59.9% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 86.4% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.1% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 35.5% more in Sri Lanka

The cost of clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Sri Lanka are more expensive than in Rwanda. Expenses including childcare, housing, transportation, and restaurants are lower in Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Rwanda, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.6% less for restaurants

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$2.19 LKR726.11	-19.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	-8.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.82 LKR270.87	+4.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.31 LKR101.62	-45.1%
Average			-16.6%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.5% more for groceries

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$0.50 LKR164.88	-52.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+142.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+58.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$1.59 LKR525.48	-2.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$1.92 LKR637.54	-7.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$2.39 LKR790.19	+118.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.33 LKR110.92	-5.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$1.65 LKR546.03	+139.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$0.59 LKR195.36	+23.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$0.45 LKR150.14	+101.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$0.34 LKR113.13	+1.2%
Average			+31.5%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 49.9% less for transportation

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	-31.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-80.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+13.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$2.96 LKR979.01	-84.4%
Average			-49.9%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.9% less for housing

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	-22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	-62.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	-65.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	-44.4%
Average			-59.9%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 86.4% less for childcare

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	-75.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$711.79 LKR236K	-92.5%
Average			-86.4%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$2.16 LKR714.17	+112.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$2.16 LKR713.82	-11.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+387.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-63.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	+7.5%
Average			+5.1%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.5% more for clothing

	Rwanda	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	+25.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-15.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	+222.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	-0.8%
Average			+35.5%

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka - 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: Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sri Lanka?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 4.5 times more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Rwanda is about 2.5 times smaller than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Rwanda to Sri Lanka · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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