Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 14.1% cheaper than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 44.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 29.2% more in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 24.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 18.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 35.6% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.4% more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 24.5% less in Kuala Lumpur

The cost of groceries and entertainment and sports in Kuala Lumpur are more expensive than in Saint Petersburg. Expenses including restaurants, childcare, clothing, transportation, and housing are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

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Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Saint Petersburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 44.0% less for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.46 RUB947.27	$4.89 MYR19.98	-57.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.43 RUB531.63	$4.89 MYR19.98	-23.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 RUB123.24	$0.81 MYR3.30	-45.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 RUB56.64	$0.46 MYR1.88	-32.8%
Average			-44.0%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.2% more for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 RUB76.85	$1.09 MYR4.47	+17.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 RUB497.41	$7.00 MYR28.58	+16.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.17 RUB344.70	$7.96 MYR32.51	+90.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 RUB135.56	$2.53 MYR10.32	+54.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 RUB235.33	$2.02 MYR8.25	-29.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB63.36	$1.55 MYR6.32	+101.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 RUB60.03	$0.82 MYR3.34	+12.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RUB62.16	$1.04 MYR4.23	+37.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 RUB114.37	$0.71 MYR2.91	-48.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RUB29.64	$0.59 MYR2.41	+64.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB23.17	$0.62 MYR2.54	+121.6%
Average			+29.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.3% less for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.25 RUB268.89	$3.22 MYR13.14	-1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	$12.24 MYR49.96	-76.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,093.40 RUB3M	$41,736.41 MYR170K	+18.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.60 RUB628.29	$11.01 MYR44.96	+44.8%
Average			-24.3%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.5% less for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.55 RUB706.83	$26.27 MYR107.27	+207.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	-15.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	-15.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	$47.56 MYR194.21	-57.6%
Average			-18.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 35.6% less for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	-45.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,234.08 RUB1M	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	-23.8%
Average			-35.6%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 RUB217.49	$4.40 MYR17.99	+67.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 RUB250.18	$3.10 MYR12.64	+2.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.92 RUB241.65	$4.40 MYR17.99	+50.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	$48.89 MYR199.62	+23.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.02 RUB579.96	$5.02 MYR20.48	-28.5%
Average			+12.4%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.5% less for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	$71.46 MYR291.78	-22.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	$41.92 MYR171.18	-17.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	$86.22 MYR352.05	-35.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	$96.07 MYR392.29	-20.7%
Average			-24.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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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