Cost of living comparison

Iran

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Tehran Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 45.9% more expensive than Tehran.

Restaurants: pay 7.9% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 77.5% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 2.6 times more in Colombo
Housing: pay 54.5% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 59.5% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 74.8% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 42.0% less in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Tehran Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Tehran, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.9% more for restaurants

	Tehran	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.75 IRR5M	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+1.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.00 IRR5M	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+88.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 IRR706K	$0.70 LKR232.56	+36.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69 IRR2M	$0.26 LKR87.00	-84.5%
Average			+7.9%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 77.5% more for groceries

	Tehran	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 IRR816K	$0.55 LKR181.98	-7.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.21 IRR3M	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+211.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.57 IRR4M	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+135.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.25 IRR2M	$1.64 LKR541.78	+30.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 IRR2M	$2.21 LKR731.08	+44.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.62 IRR848K	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+396.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 IRR1M	$0.37 LKR122.81	-56.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.53 IRR726K	$2.03 LKR672.87	+284.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 IRR414K	$0.57 LKR187.42	+87.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 IRR357K	$0.46 LKR150.85	+75.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 IRR304K	$0.35 LKR116.82	+59.5%
Average			+77.5%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.6 times more for transportation

	Tehran	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$0.34 IRR462K	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+1428.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.50 IRR8M	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	+30.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,000.00 IRR69B	$37,024.95 LKR12M	-26.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.90 IRR4M	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	+13.6%
Average			+157.0%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.5% more for housing

	Tehran	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$3.70 IRR5M	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	+461.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$425.52 IRR585M	$589.61 LKR195K	+38.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.92 IRR367M	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+1.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$9.95 IRR14M	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	+313.4%
Average			+54.5%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 59.5% less for childcare

	Tehran	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$107.76 IRR148M	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-64.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,581.80 IRR4B	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-53.2%
Average			-59.5%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 74.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Tehran	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.70 IRR962K	$2.21 LKR730.76	+215.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.36 IRR2M	$2.51 LKR832.69	+85.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.50 IRR3M	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+311.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.59 IRR34M	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-43.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.00 IRR3M	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+126.7%
Average			+74.8%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.0% less for clothing

	Tehran	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.60 IRR37M	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-31.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.78 IRR52M	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-56.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$116.55 IRR160M	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	-32.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$75.17 IRR103M	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-44.4%
Average			-42.0%

Tehran vs. Colombo - 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

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