Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Rwanda

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 58.6% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.0% more in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 23.9% less in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 99.6% more in Rwanda
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 7.3 times more in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.9% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 26.2% less in Rwanda

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

Planning a move to Rwanda? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Rwanda vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.0% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 LKR726.11	$2.71 RWF4,005	+23.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	$6.77 RWF10,013	+9.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 LKR270.87	$0.78 RWF1,155	-4.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 LKR101.62	$0.56 RWF826	+82.1%
Average			+20.0%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.9% less for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$0.50 LKR164.88	$1.05 RWF1,548	+110.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	$2.11 RWF3,115	-58.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	$3.16 RWF4,675	-36.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 LKR525.48	$1.63 RWF2,412	+2.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.92 LKR637.54	$2.08 RWF3,078	+8.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39 LKR790.19	$1.09 RWF1,618	-54.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.33 LKR110.92	$0.35 RWF522	+5.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 LKR546.03	$0.69 RWF1,019	-58.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 LKR195.36	$0.48 RWF707	-19.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR150.14	$0.23 RWF333	-50.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 LKR113.13	$0.34 RWF499	-1.1%
Average			-23.9%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 99.6% more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	$7.00 RWF10,345	+46.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	$25.40 RWF37,550	+416.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,619.96 LKR10M	$26,080.15 RWF39M	-12.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.96 LKR979.01	$18.97 RWF28,037	+541.7%
Average			+99.6%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	$21.00 RWF31,041	+28.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	$666.07 RWF985K	+165.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	$413.79 RWF612K	+187.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	$64.32 RWF95,077	+79.8%
Average			+149.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.3 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	$112.90 RWF167K	+302.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$711.79 LKR236K	$9,510.48 RWF14M	+1236.1%
Average			+632.9%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.16 LKR714.17	$1.02 RWF1,502	-52.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 LKR713.82	$2.42 RWF3,578	+12.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	$2.03 RWF3,004	-79.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	$26.72 RWF39,497	+176.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	$3.39 RWF5,007	-7.0%
Average			-4.9%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.2% less for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	$17.39 RWF25,701	-20.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	$15.58 RWF23,031	+18.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	$22.24 RWF32,877	-68.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	$33.87 RWF50,067	+0.8%
Average			-26.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Rwanda - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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. Rwanda

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Rwanda?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 2.8 times more likely to be unemployed in Rwanda

Size Comparison · See true size

Sri Lanka is about 2.5 times bigger than Rwanda.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

More cost comparisons

Sri Lanka vs.

India

Sri Lanka vs.

Thailand

Sri Lanka vs.

Vietnam

Sri Lanka vs.

Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka vs.

Qatar

Sri Lanka vs.

Canada

Sri Lanka vs.

Australia

Sri Lanka vs.

United Kingdom

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Colombo vs. Kigali

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Sri Lanka

Add prices for Rwanda

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Rwanda or Sri Lanka. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.