Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Nicaragua

Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 66.0% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 90.1% more in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 35.5% more in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 15.5% more in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 51.2% more in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 8.5 times more in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.1% more in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 3.2 times more in Nicaragua

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

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Nicaragua vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 90.1% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 LKR726.11	$7.07 NIO260.53	+222.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	$6.94 NIO255.89	+12.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 LKR270.87	$0.86 NIO31.77	+5.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 LKR101.62	$0.62 NIO22.88	+102.4%
Average			+90.1%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.5% more for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$0.50 LKR164.88	$1.71 NIO62.93	+243.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	$3.70 NIO136.25	-27.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	$4.65 NIO171.26	-7.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 LKR525.48	$2.34 NIO86.37	+47.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.92 LKR637.54	$2.55 NIO93.99	+32.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39 LKR790.19	$1.82 NIO67.08	-23.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.33 LKR110.92	$0.27 NIO10.03	-18.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 LKR546.03	$0.82 NIO30.09	-50.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 LKR195.36	$1.11 NIO40.73	+87.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR150.14	$1.68 NIO61.77	+269.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 LKR113.13	$1.01 NIO37.13	+195.0%
Average			+35.5%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.5% more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	$5.05 NIO186.17	+5.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	$6.01 NIO221.41	+22.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,619.96 LKR10M	$22,973.64 NIO847K	-22.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.96 LKR979.01	$13.49 NIO497.29	+356.5%
Average			+15.5%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 51.2% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	+99.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	+16.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	+72.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	+93.4%
Average			+51.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 8.5 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	+739.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$711.79 LKR236K	$6,060.00 NIO223K	+751.4%
Average			+745.5%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.16 LKR714.17	$1.40 NIO51.60	-35.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 LKR713.82	$2.60 NIO95.82	+20.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	$2.73 NIO100.51	-72.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	+236.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	$9.00 NIO331.69	+147.1%
Average			+42.1%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.2 times more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+175.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+394.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+71.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+331.0%
Average			+216.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Nicaragua - 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. Nicaragua

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Nicaragua?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 74.1% more likely to live below the poverty line in Nicaragua

Size Comparison · See true size

Sri Lanka is about 2 times smaller than Nicaragua.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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