Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Zimbabwe is 60.4% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 66.3% more in Zimbabwe
Groceries: pay 18.3% more in Zimbabwe
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Zimbabwe
Housing: pay 42.3% more in Zimbabwe
Childcare: pay 10.0 times more in Zimbabwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.7% more in Zimbabwe
Clothing: pay 2.7% more in Zimbabwe

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

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Zimbabwe vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 66.3% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 LKR726.11	$7.25 ZWL2,334.50	+230.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	$5.38 ZWL1,730.75	-13.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 LKR270.87	$0.73 ZWL234.79	-10.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 LKR101.62	$0.42 ZWL135.90	+37.5%
Average			+66.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.3% more for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Bread 1 loaf	$0.50 LKR164.88	$1.00 ZWL322.00	+100.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	$5.28 ZWL1,701.44	+3.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	$5.96 ZWL1,919.26	+19.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 LKR525.48	$1.90 ZWL611.53	+19.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.92 LKR637.54	$2.12 ZWL682.33	+10.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39 LKR790.19	$1.10 ZWL353.72	-54.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.33 LKR110.92	$0.73 ZWL236.30	+119.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 LKR546.03	$1.02 ZWL328.63	-38.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 LKR195.36	$0.59 ZWL188.63	-0.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR150.14	$0.67 ZWL217.09	+48.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 LKR113.13	$0.72 ZWL231.09	+110.1%
Average			+18.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	$6.57 ZWL2,116.06	+37.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	$45.00 ZWL14,490.00	+815.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,619.96 LKR10M	$23,500.00 ZWL8M	-20.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.96 LKR979.01	$19.50 ZWL6,279.00	+559.7%
Average			+118.9%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.3% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	$88.24 ZWL28,414.33	+441.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	$282.50 ZWL90,965.00	+12.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	$212.05 ZWL68,280.10	+47.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	$55.83 ZWL17,977.33	+56.1%
Average			+42.3%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of housing

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pay 10.0 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	$331.89 ZWL107K	+1081.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$711.79 LKR236K	$6,027.78 ZWL2M	+746.9%
Average			+900.4%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.16 LKR714.17	$1.38 ZWL442.75	-36.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 LKR713.82	$2.56 ZWL825.12	+18.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	$1.75 ZWL563.50	-82.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	$39.58 ZWL12,745.83	+309.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	+174.6%
Average			+45.7%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7% more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	$22.24 ZWL7,160.03	+2.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	$16.41 ZWL5,282.85	+24.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	$42.46 ZWL13,673.21	-40.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	$49.35 ZWL15,890.90	+46.9%
Average			+2.7%

Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe - 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. Zimbabwe

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Zimbabwe?

Quality of Life Comparison · 25 statistics

Be 2.7 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Zimbabwe

Size Comparison · See true size

Sri Lanka is about 6 times smaller than Zimbabwe.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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