Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Tajikistan

Dushanbe vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Dushanbe is 2.0 times more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 50.0% more in Dushanbe
Groceries: pay 17.7% more in Dushanbe
Transportation: pay 62.2% more in Dushanbe
Housing: pay 3.6 times more in Dushanbe
Childcare: pay 4.3 times more in Dushanbe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% more in Dushanbe
Clothing: pay 48.0% more in Dushanbe

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Dushanbe are more expensive than in Thimphu. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Dushanbe.

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Dushanbe vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dushanbe instead of Thimphu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 50.0% more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$4.88 TJS44.99	+88.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$5.42 TJS49.99	+10.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$0.60 TJS5.57	+20.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.35 TJS3.25	+94.6%
Average			+50.0%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.7% more for groceries

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$0.62 TJS5.69	-42.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$5.53 TJS50.99	+194.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$4.10 TJS37.85	+35.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$1.81 TJS16.68	-4.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$1.96 TJS18.07	+9.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$0.85 TJS7.86	-25.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$1.29 TJS11.87	+85.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$1.20 TJS11.11	+65.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$0.57 TJS5.22	+69.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$0.28 TJS2.56	+7.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$0.19 TJS1.74	-39.4%
Average			+17.7%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of groceries

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pay 62.2% more for transportation

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$4.37 TJS40.37	+57.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$32.50 TJS299.95	+528.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$16,250.83 TJS150K	-2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$3.68 TJS33.99	-72.1%
Average			+62.2%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$17.18 TJS158.54	-28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	+394.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	+310.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	$51.70 TJS477.10	+100.3%
Average			+263.6%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of housing

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pay 4.3 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$83.42 TJS769.87	+85.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	+898.7%
Average			+330.4%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$1.19 TJS11.00	-53.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$1.79 TJS16.50	+40.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$3.79 TJS34.99	-2.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$45.50 TJS419.93	-2.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	$5.42 TJS49.99	+74.6%
Average			+4.5%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.0% more for clothing

	Thimphu	Dushanbe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$24.38 TJS224.96	-51.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$52.65 TJS485.92	+110.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$77.64 TJS716.55	+15.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$56.34 TJS519.91	+303.6%
Average			+48.0%

Thimphu vs. Dushanbe - 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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