Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Lesotho

Maseru vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Maseru is 26.2% more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Maseru
Groceries: pay 51.4% more in Maseru
Transportation: pay 88.8% more in Maseru
Housing: pay 27.7% less in Maseru
Childcare: pay 55.1% more in Maseru
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.9% less in Maseru
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Maseru

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

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Maseru vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Maseru
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$9.01 LSL148.38	+248.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$8.41 LSL138.49	+71.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$1.07 LSL17.56	+113.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.84 LSL13.85	+364.9%
Average			+166.4%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.4% more for groceries

	Thimphu	Maseru
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$0.83 LSL13.60	-23.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$3.30 LSL54.39	+75.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$4.38 LSL72.07	+44.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$1.54 LSL25.32	-18.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$2.79 LSL45.98	+55.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$0.85 LSL14.02	-25.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$1.02 LSL16.71	+46.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$1.23 LSL20.19	+68.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$1.09 LSL17.95	+226.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$0.71 LSL11.66	+174.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$0.73 LSL12.00	+134.6%
Average			+51.4%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of groceries

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pay 88.8% more for transportation

	Thimphu	Maseru
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$4.98 LSL81.93	+78.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$30.04 LSL494.60	+481.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$21,030.86 LSL346K	+26.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$6.01 LSL98.92	-54.4%
Average			+88.8%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.7% less for housing

	Thimphu	Maseru
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$38.30 LSL630.53	+58.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$93.14 LSL1,533.25	-26.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$55.58 LSL915.01	-35.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	??
Average			-27.7%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of housing

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pay 55.1% more for childcare

	Thimphu	Maseru
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$52.06 LSL857.06	+15.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$1,181.73 LSL19,454.17	+107.8%
Average			+55.1%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Maseru
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$1.80 LSL29.68	-30.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$2.00 LSL32.97	+57.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$5.11 LSL84.08	+31.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$23.03 LSL379.19	-50.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	??
Average			-15.9%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Thimphu	Maseru
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$46.07 LSL758.38	-7.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$55.58 LSL915.01	+122.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$104.15 LSL1,714.61	+55.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$150.22 LSL2,472.99	+976.2%
Average			+141.8%

Thimphu vs. Maseru - 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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See the cost of living in Bhutan vs. Lesotho. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Bhutan and Lesotho.

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