Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 3.2 times more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 25.8% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 9.8% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 71.0% more in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 12.7 times more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.2% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 27.6% more in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.8% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	$5.80 KES751.45	+59.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	$6.97 KES901.74	-11.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 LKR224.32	$0.70 KES90.86	-3.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 LKR106.15	$0.55 KES71.09	+59.0%
Average			+25.8%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.8% less for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.48 LKR147.07	$0.55 KES70.74	+14.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	$5.57 KES720.62	-2.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	$3.36 KES434.42	-44.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 LKR597.37	$1.64 KES212.89	-15.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 LKR629.94	$2.92 KES377.80	+42.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.40 LKR736.93	$1.41 KES182.10	-41.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.44 LKR136.48	$0.47 KES61.45	+6.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.17 LKR665.91	$0.89 KES115.16	-58.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR168.43	$0.46 KES59.05	-16.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR139.78	$0.49 KES63.55	+7.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR155.98	$0.51 KES65.57	-0.2%
Average			-9.8%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	$5.40 KES698.91	+31.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.74 LKR3,299.78	$30.96 KES4,007.74	+188.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30	$21,671.83 KES2,805,417.96	-12.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.00 LKR921.91	$17.03 KES2,204.26	+467.6%
Average			+168.7%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.0% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	$39.86 KES5,160.40	+210.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	$476.96 KES61,741.91	+64.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	$206.31 KES26,706.75	+15.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.64 LKR9,722.89	$29.32 KES3,796.09	-7.3%
Average			+71.0%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 12.7 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	$224.14 KES29,014.37	+561.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$466.09 LKR143,227.52	$8,775.09 KES1,135,934.95	+1782.7%
Average			+1172.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.08 LKR639.65	$2.32 KES300.58	+11.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.39 LKR735.74	$2.37 KES306.78	-1.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	$3.10 KES400.77	-66.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	$45.30 KES5,863.82	+201.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.12 LKR959.48	$7.35 KES951.84	+135.5%
Average			+56.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.6% more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.05 LKR7,697.80	$19.62 KES2,540.20	-21.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.03 LKR5,232.27	$24.88 KES3,220.51	+46.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.69 LKR19,264.32	$67.92 KES8,791.98	+8.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	$62.28 KES8,061.57	+77.6%
Average			+27.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Nairobi - 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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