Cost of living comparison

compared to

Colombo vs. Tehran Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 49.6% more expensive than Tehran.

Restaurants: pay 22.4% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 3.0 times more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 0.9% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 75.1% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 73.8% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5 times more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 31.3% less in Colombo

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

Colombo vs. Tehran Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.4% more for restaurants

	Tehran	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.80 IRR159,980	$4.13 LKR1,269.15	+8.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.50 IRR189,450	$8.26 LKR2,538.29	+83.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 IRR19,793	$0.76 LKR233.26	+61.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 IRR42,809	$0.36 LKR111.43	-64.3%
Average			+22.4%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.0 times more for groceries

	Tehran	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 IRR22,585	$0.52 LKR160.10	-2.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.89 IRR79,415	$6.78 LKR2,083.94	+259.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.35 IRR99,035	$6.70 LKR2,060.40	+185.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.11 IRR46,854	$1.95 LKR600.76	+75.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 IRR59,412	$2.05 LKR629.94	+45.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.41 IRR17,229	$3.42 LKR1,051.88	+736.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 IRR28,715	$0.50 LKR152.38	-27.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.38 IRR16,018	$2.69 LKR826.88	+607.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.29 IRR12,053	$0.55 LKR168.43	+91.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 IRR10,246	$0.51 LKR157.17	+110.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 IRR9,692	$0.58 LKR177.69	+151.2%
Average			+202.9%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.9% less for transportation

	Tehran	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.75 IRR115,695	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	+49.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.55 IRR275,767	$6.61 LKR2,030.64	+0.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$68,000.00 IRR2,862,800,000	$26,432.11 LKR8,122,543.83	-61.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.85 IRR119,985	$3.04 LKR934.09	+6.7%
Average			-0.9%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 75.1% more for housing

	Tehran	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$5.76 IRR242,350	$14.01 LKR4,306.40	+143.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$450.54 IRR18,967,800	$360.90 LKR110,903.96	-19.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$321.19 IRR13,522,178	$177.21 LKR54,457.87	-44.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$12.05 IRR507,381	$38.78 LKR11,916.86	+221.8%
Average			+75.1%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 73.8% less for childcare

	Tehran	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$123.82 IRR5,212,799	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	-72.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,011.10 IRR84,667,110	$505.51 LKR155,343.65	-74.9%
Average			-73.8%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Tehran	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.65 IRR27,365	$2.31 LKR710.72	+255.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.23 IRR51,902	$2.67 LKR820.10	+116.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.50 IRR105,250	$10.24 LKR3,147.49	+309.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.91 IRR922,529	$13.33 LKR4,097.53	-39.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.50 IRR63,150	$3.30 LKR1,015.32	+120.3%
Average			+152.6%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.3% less for clothing

	Tehran	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.24 IRR1,062,416	$26.56 LKR8,162.73	+5.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.76 IRR1,294,898	$17.76 LKR5,457.33	-42.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.65 IRR4,952,943	$67.21 LKR20,653.71	-42.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.84 IRR2,940,064	$38.07 LKR11,700.33	-45.5%
Average			-31.3%

Tehran vs. Colombo - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Tehran vs.

Athens

Tehran vs.

Manila

Tehran vs.

Ottawa

Tehran vs.

Bangkok

Tehran vs.

Rome

Tehran vs.

Madrid

Tehran vs.

Paris

Tehran vs.

Washington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Iran vs. Sri Lanka. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Iran and Sri Lanka.

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 Tehran

Add prices for Colombo

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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