Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 23.3% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.5% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 40.2% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 10.0% more in Laos
Housing: pay 41.5% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.0% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 6.6% more in Laos

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

Laos vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.5% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$2.08 LAK44,969	-77.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$5.54 LAK119,918	+8.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.76 LAK16,444	-26.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.50 LAK10,719	-38.3%
Average			-33.5%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.2% more for groceries

	South Africa	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$1.13 LAK24,565	+13.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$13.26 LAK287,052	+241.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$6.91 LAK149,607	+58.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$2.11 LAK45,585	-9.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$2.10 LAK45,372	-1.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$0.76 LAK16,405	+4.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.75 LAK16,239	+15.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.97 LAK20,985	+41.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$1.30 LAK28,222	+83.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.70 LAK15,261	+20.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.46 LAK9,907	-23.7%
Average			+40.2%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.0% more for transportation

	South Africa	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$4.72 LAK102,231	-4.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$54.89 LAK1,188,115	-2.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$28,639.89 LAK619,954,342	+33.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$10.51 LAK227,448	+12.5%
Average			+10.0%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.5% more for housing

	South Africa	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$9.16 LAK198,197	-76.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$1,004.64 LAK21,746,980	+148.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$817.42 LAK17,694,410	+126.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$59.90 LAK1,296,718	-32.0%
Average			+41.5%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$296.67 LAK6,421,775	+71.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$9,267.93 LAK200,618,663	+133.9%
Average			+102.5%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.0% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$1.42 LAK30,727	-34.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$1.66 LAK35,850	-19.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$1.98 LAK42,885	-33.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$67.50 LAK1,461,149	+123.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$3.02 LAK65,430	-55.9%
Average			-4.0%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.6% more for clothing

	South Africa	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$50.20 LAK1,086,754	-1.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$65.21 LAK1,411,532	+99.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$66.39 LAK1,437,049	-29.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$47.52 LAK1,028,728	-41.9%
Average			+6.6%

South Africa vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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