Cost of living comparison

compared to

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 2.7 times more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.3% more in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 21.2% less in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Rwanda
Housing: pay 64.5% more in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 10.9 times more in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 16.3% less in Rwanda

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, and restaurants in Rwanda are more expensive than in Sri Lanka. Expenses including groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Rwanda. Notably, childcare and transportation are significantly more expensive in Rwanda.

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.3% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	$3.45 RWF5,000	-5.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	$6.89 RWF9,999	-12.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 LKR224.32	$0.86 RWF1,244	+17.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 LKR106.15	$0.57 RWF830	+65.7%
Average			+16.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.2% less for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$0.48 LKR147.07	$1.05 RWF1,517	+118.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	$2.26 RWF3,273	-60.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	$2.64 RWF3,833	-56.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 LKR597.37	$1.65 RWF2,400	-14.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 LKR629.94	$2.10 RWF3,039	+2.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.40 LKR736.93	$1.15 RWF1,673	-51.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.44 LKR136.48	$0.37 RWF535	-16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.17 LKR665.91	$0.70 RWF1,018	-67.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR168.43	$0.48 RWF695	-12.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR139.78	$0.23 RWF330	-50.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR155.98	$0.39 RWF567	-23.0%
Average			-21.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	$4.42 RWF6,414	+7.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.74 LKR3,299.78	$29.30 RWF42,498	+172.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30	$26,543.61 RWF38,497,764	+7.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.00 LKR921.91	$14.48 RWF20,999	+382.6%
Average			+142.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.5% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	$19.48 RWF28,248	+51.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	$575.44 RWF834,601	+99.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	$322.51 RWF467,756	+80.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.64 LKR9,722.89	$39.98 RWF57,987	+26.4%
Average			+64.5%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

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pay 10.9 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	$166.62 RWF241,653	+392.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$466.09 LKR143,227.52	$7,842.43 RWF11,374,339	+1582.6%
Average			+987.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.08 LKR639.65	$1.03 RWF1,500	-50.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.39 LKR735.74	$2.31 RWF3,355	-3.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	$1.72 RWF2,500	-81.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	$31.41 RWF45,553	+108.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.12 LKR959.48	$3.45 RWF5,000	+10.4%
Average			-3.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.3% less for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.05 LKR7,697.80	$19.19 RWF27,832	-23.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.03 LKR5,232.27	$19.30 RWF27,998	+13.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.69 LKR19,264.32	$22.98 RWF33,331	-63.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	$37.92 RWF54,997	+8.1%
Average			-16.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - 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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