Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Taiwan Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 3.0% more expensive than Taiwan overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.6% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 36.2% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 16.8% more in Laos
Housing: pay 71.0% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 32.0% less in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.6% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 11.1% less in Laos

The cost of housing and transportation in Laos are more expensive than in Taiwan. Expenses including groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Laos.

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Laos vs. Taiwan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Taiwan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.6% less for restaurants

	Taiwan	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 NT$136.94	$2.23 LAK49,970	-48.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.99 NT$159.58	$5.35 LAK120K	+7.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 NT$30.41	$0.79 LAK17,693	-17.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NT$20.68	$0.46 LAK10,388	-28.4%
Average			-27.6%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.2% less for groceries

	Taiwan	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NT$55.75	$1.14 LAK25,613	-34.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.75 NT$343.72	$12.87 LAK289K	+19.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.29 NT$360.84	$6.94 LAK156K	-38.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.49 NT$79.71	$1.87 LAK41,899	-25.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 NT$118.68	$2.81 LAK63,026	-24.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.94 NT$61.93	$0.84 LAK18,884	-56.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.13 NT$36.09	$0.52 LAK11,606	-54.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 NT$43.50	$1.19 LAK26,703	-12.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.45 NT$46.48	$0.69 LAK15,564	-52.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.32	$0.66 LAK14,846	-38.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 NT$30.56	$0.49 LAK10,942	-49.0%
Average			-36.2%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.8% more for transportation

	Taiwan	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.85 NT$123.03	$5.01 LAK112K	+30.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.67 NT$1,108.01	$52.98 LAK1M	+52.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,963.14 NT$1M	$27,872.00 LAK625M	-15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.50 NT$271.68	$9.14 LAK205K	+7.5%
Average			+16.8%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.0% more for housing

	Taiwan	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.08 NT$673.70	$9.51 LAK213K	-54.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.93 NT$14,796.00	$885.68 LAK20M	+91.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$291.17 NT$9,306.13	$631.74 LAK14M	+117.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$62.73 NT$2,004.80	$65.79 LAK1M	+4.9%
Average			+71.0%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 32.0% less for childcare

	Taiwan	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$537.84 NT$17,189.98	$435.49 LAK10M	-19.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,498.18 NT$559K	$9,982.68 LAK224M	-43.0%
Average			-32.0%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Taiwan	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.82 NT$58.32	$1.32 LAK29,669	-27.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.83 NT$90.51	$1.66 LAK37,186	-41.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.03 NT$128.75	$1.78 LAK39,976	-55.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.82 NT$1,208.82	$64.54 LAK1M	+70.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.97 NT$318.70	$3.32 LAK74,390	-66.7%
Average			-32.6%

Taiwan vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.1% less for clothing

	Taiwan	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.97 NT$1,948.76	$48.46 LAK1M	-20.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.64 NT$1,043.09	$62.95 LAK1M	+92.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.55 NT$2,510.61	$64.36 LAK1M	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.75 NT$2,964.27	$46.02 LAK1M	-50.4%
Average			-11.1%

Taiwan vs. Laos - 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: Taiwan vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

Be 27.1% less likely to have internet access in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Taiwan is about 7 times smaller than Laos.

Moving from Taiwan to Laos · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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