Cost of living comparison

Solomon Islands

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Solomon Islands Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 40.0% cheaper than Solomon Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 56.0% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 43.2% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 13.7% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 61.1% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.2% more in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 19.4% less in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Solomon Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Solomon Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 56.0% less for restaurants

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.82 SBD55.00	$3.42 MYR13.98	-49.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.40 SBD100.00	$4.64 MYR18.95	-62.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.55 SBD12.50	$0.75 MYR3.07	-51.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 SBD8.75	$0.42 MYR1.72	-61.1%
Average			-56.0%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.2% less for groceries

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.50 SBD12.08	$1.10 MYR4.49	-26.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.27 SBD26.33	$6.94 MYR28.32	+112.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.62 SBD77.60	$7.18 MYR29.31	-25.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.60 SBD45.20	$2.09 MYR8.53	-62.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 SBD31.18	$1.90 MYR7.75	-50.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.85 SBD23.02	$1.35 MYR5.53	-52.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.20 SBD9.64	$0.73 MYR2.97	-39.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.88 SBD31.30	$1.19 MYR4.84	-69.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.69 SBD13.61	$0.69 MYR2.83	-58.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 SBD7.17	$0.57 MYR2.34	-35.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.55 SBD12.47	$0.61 MYR2.50	-60.5%
Average			-43.2%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.7% less for transportation

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.99 SBD40.27	$2.76 MYR11.29	-44.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.80 SBD199.99	$15.28 MYR62.39	-38.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,598.79 SBD150K	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+119.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.16 SBD90.00	$6.46 MYR26.37	-42.1%
Average			-13.7%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.1% less for housing

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$89.89 SBD724.96	$27.60 MYR112.71	-69.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$888.61 SBD7,166.32	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	-59.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$433.97 SBD3,499.83	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	-38.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$331.86 SBD2,676.34	$36.69 MYR149.79	-88.9%
Average			-61.1%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$99.19 SBD799.96	$231.07 MYR943.51	+132.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,851.81 SBD22,998.88	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	+182.0%
Average			+156.3%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 SBD20.00	$3.61 MYR14.73	+45.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 SBD27.50	$2.76 MYR11.29	-18.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.15 SBD33.50	$4.35 MYR17.74	+4.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.20 SBD299.99	$38.82 MYR158.52	+4.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.34 SBD35.00	$4.73 MYR19.31	+8.9%
Average			+7.2%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% less for clothing

	Solomon Islands	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$27.28 SBD219.99	$58.43 MYR238.60	+114.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$92.99 SBD749.96	$30.42 MYR124.22	-67.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.13 SBD783.30	$77.72 MYR317.35	-20.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.29 SBD832.96	$77.79 MYR317.65	-24.7%
Average			-19.4%

Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia - 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: Solomon Islands vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 6.3 times more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Solomon Islands is about 11 times smaller than Malaysia.

Moving from Solomon Islands to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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