Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

New Zealand

New Zealand vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 84.5% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.8 times more in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 38.4% more in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 35.1% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 42.9% more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.3% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 23.8% more in New Zealand

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, groceries, and transportation in New Zealand are more expensive than in Thailand. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in New Zealand.

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New Zealand vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Thailand, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.8 times more for restaurants

	Thailand	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.89 THB96.05	$13.26 NZ$23.46	+359.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB232.42	$8.99 NZ$15.90	+28.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 THB24.81	$2.04 NZ$3.61	+173.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 THB12.19	$1.83 NZ$3.24	+400.0%
Average			+181.8%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.4% more for groceries

	Thailand	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.34 THB44.43	$1.73 NZ$3.05	+29.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.95 THB264.36	$3.78 NZ$6.69	-52.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 THB236.74	$6.47 NZ$11.45	-9.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 THB68.55	$5.79 NZ$10.24	+181.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.37 THB45.52	$3.83 NZ$6.77	+179.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 THB44.98	$1.22 NZ$2.15	-10.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.99	$0.94 NZ$1.67	+65.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 THB31.07	$1.32 NZ$2.33	+41.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 THB27.38	$2.20 NZ$3.89	+167.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB24.01	$0.89 NZ$1.57	+23.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.88	$0.67 NZ$1.18	+17.3%
Average			+38.4%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.1% more for transportation

	Thailand	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 THB168.49	$6.34 NZ$11.21	+25.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.87 THB1,093.53	$83.43 NZ$147.53	+153.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,201.01 THB971K	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	-17.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.77 THB358.41	$17.20 NZ$30.41	+59.6%
Average			+35.1%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Thailand	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.17 THB637.71	$49.30 NZ$87.18	+157.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$407.64 THB13,560.34	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	+139.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$268.13 THB8,919.39	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02	+214.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.86 THB2,024.59	$95.64 NZ$169.12	+57.1%
Average			+151.7%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 42.9% more for childcare

	Thailand	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$515.68 THB17,154.28	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	+39.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,528.28 THB383K	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	+46.9%
Average			+42.9%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.10 THB69.86	$5.70 NZ$10.07	+171.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 THB66.47	$3.26 NZ$5.77	+63.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.15 THB138.07	$22.75 NZ$40.22	+448.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.07 THB1,665.52	$39.17 NZ$69.26	-21.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.05 THB201.30	$10.27 NZ$18.16	+69.7%
Average			+71.3%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.8% more for clothing

	Thailand	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.30 THB1,473.73	$63.30 NZ$111.94	+42.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.84 THB1,092.57	$33.63 NZ$59.46	+2.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.65 THB2,782.57	$91.48 NZ$161.76	+9.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.91 THB2,591.55	$114.46 NZ$202.41	+46.9%
Average			+23.8%

Thailand vs. New Zealand - 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: Thailand vs. New Zealand

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Thailand is about 1.9 times bigger than New Zealand.

Moving from Thailand to New Zealand · OECD 2023

2,043 people moved from Thailand to New Zealand.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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