Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Iraq

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Iraq is 27.1% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.6% more in Iraq
Groceries: pay 31.1% less in Iraq
Transportation: pay 21.3% more in Iraq
Housing: pay 42.1% more in Iraq
Childcare: pay 4.8 times more in Iraq
Entertainment and Sports: pay 66.6% more in Iraq
Clothing: pay 21.1% more in Iraq

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, transportation, and clothing in Iraq are more expensive than in Sri Lanka. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Iraq.

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Iraq vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.6% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 LKR726.11	$4.69 IQD7,116	+113.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	$6.78 IQD10,292	+9.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 LKR270.87	$0.46 IQD696	-43.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 LKR101.62	$0.25 IQD387	-17.0%
Average			+34.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.1% less for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Bread 1 loaf	$0.50 LKR164.88	$0.77 IQD1,171	+54.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	$2.50 IQD3,803	-50.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	$4.14 IQD6,285	-17.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 LKR525.48	$1.73 IQD2,627	+9.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.92 LKR637.54	$2.04 IQD3,095	+5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39 LKR790.19	$0.46 IQD697	-80.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.33 LKR110.92	$0.50 IQD764	+50.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 LKR546.03	$0.45 IQD680	-72.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 LKR195.36	$0.31 IQD474	-47.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR150.14	$0.30 IQD454	-34.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 LKR113.13	$0.28 IQD432	-16.8%
Average			-31.1%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.3% more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	$2.18 IQD3,310	-54.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	$35.81 IQD54,369	+628.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,619.96 LKR10M	$15,719.55 IQD24M	-46.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.96 LKR979.01	$14.95 IQD22,695	+405.7%
Average			+21.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.1% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	$35.82 IQD54,388	+119.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	$299.18 IQD454K	+19.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	$206.21 IQD313K	+43.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	$69.07 IQD105K	+93.1%
Average			+42.1%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of housing

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pay 4.8 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	$167.07 IQD254K	+494.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$711.79 LKR236K	$2,726.78 IQD4M	+283.1%
Average			+377.4%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of childcare

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pay 66.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.16 LKR714.17	$3.16 IQD4,804	+46.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 LKR713.82	$2.65 IQD4,020	+22.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	$1.96 IQD2,975	-80.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	$34.60 IQD52,536	+257.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	$9.36 IQD14,218	+157.1%
Average			+66.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.1% more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Iraq
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	$24.05 IQD36,514	+10.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	$24.78 IQD37,621	+88.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	$56.42 IQD85,653	-21.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	$44.01 IQD66,816	+31.0%
Average			+21.1%

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq - 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: Sri Lanka vs. Iraq

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 3.9 times more likely to be unemployed in Iraq

Size Comparison · See true size

Sri Lanka is about 7 times smaller than Iraq.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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