Cost of living comparison

compared to

Colombo vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 20.9% cheaper than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 19.2% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 21.4% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 43.9% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 26.7% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 93.0% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.5% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 34.9% less in Colombo

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

Colombo vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.2% more for restaurants

	Thailand	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 THB87.98	$4.13 LKR1,296.72	+54.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB230.30	$8.26 LKR2,593.44	+18.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 THB24.19	$0.76 LKR238.32	+3.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 THB11.85	$0.36 LKR113.85	+0.8%
Average			+19.2%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.4% more for groceries

	Thailand	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 THB46.38	$0.52 LKR163.58	-63.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 THB259.57	$6.78 LKR2,129.22	-14.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 THB235.95	$6.70 LKR2,105.16	-6.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB68.16	$1.95 LKR613.81	-5.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 THB46.50	$2.05 LKR643.63	+45.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB43.74	$3.42 LKR1,074.73	+157.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 THB19.52	$0.50 LKR155.69	-16.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 THB29.58	$2.69 LKR844.84	+199.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 THB24.80	$0.55 LKR172.09	-27.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB23.45	$0.51 LKR160.59	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB20.31	$0.58 LKR181.55	-6.3%
Average			+21.4%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.9% less for transportation

	Thailand	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB159.11	$4.12 LKR1,292.36	-14.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 THB925.90	$6.61 LKR2,074.76	-76.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,471.21 THB1M	$26,432.11 LKR8M	-13.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.53 THB346.70	$3.04 LKR954.39	-71.1%
Average			-43.9%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.7% less for housing

	Thailand	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.52 THB609.86	$14.01 LKR4,399.96	-24.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.60 THB13,651.42	$360.90 LKR113K	-13.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.86 THB8,786.76	$177.21 LKR55,641.07	-33.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.46 THB1,990.74	$38.78 LKR12,175.77	-35.9%
Average			-26.7%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 93.0% less for childcare

	Thailand	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$359.13 THB11,824.88	$33.87 LKR10,633.12	-90.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,104.31 THB366K	$505.51 LKR159K	-95.4%
Average			-93.0%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.15 THB70.94	$2.31 LKR726.16	+7.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.97 THB64.89	$2.67 LKR837.92	+35.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.31 THB142.05	$10.24 LKR3,215.87	+137.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.45 THB1,760.04	$13.33 LKR4,186.56	-75.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.32 THB208.00	$3.30 LKR1,037.38	-47.7%
Average			+11.5%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.9% less for clothing

	Thailand	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.08 THB1,220.93	$26.56 LKR8,340.08	-28.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.48 THB970.67	$17.76 LKR5,575.91	-39.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.15 THB3,001.25	$67.21 LKR21,102.45	-26.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.13 THB2,276.06	$38.07 LKR11,954.54	-44.9%
Average			-34.9%

Thailand vs. Colombo - Cost of clothing

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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: April 2026

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