Cost of living comparison

compared to

Tehran vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Tehran is 63.9% more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Tehran
Groceries: pay 21.2% less in Tehran
Transportation: pay 10.3% less in Tehran
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Tehran
Childcare: pay 81.4% more in Tehran
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.9% less in Tehran
Clothing: pay 2.9 times more in Tehran

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

Tehran vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Tehran
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.82 BTN254.26	$3.80 IRR160,059	+34.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.38 BTN305.11	$4.50 IRR189,544	+33.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 BTN47.80	$0.47 IRR19,802	-11.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN16.53	$1.02 IRR42,831	+454.9%
Average			+127.8%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.2% less for groceries

	Thimphu	Tehran
Bread 1 loaf	$0.89 BTN80.35	$0.54 IRR22,596	-39.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.61 BTN144.93	$1.89 IRR79,454	+17.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN273.35	$2.35 IRR99,084	-22.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.96 BTN176.56	$1.11 IRR46,877	-43.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.70 BTN153.16	$1.41 IRR59,442	-16.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 BTN98.42	$0.41 IRR17,238	-62.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 BTN59.05	$0.68 IRR28,729	+4.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 BTN74.58	$0.38 IRR16,026	-54.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN29.60	$0.29 IRR12,059	-12.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 BTN20.38	$0.24 IRR10,251	+7.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN23.45	$0.23 IRR9,697	-11.5%
Average			-21.2%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.3% less for transportation

	Thimphu	Tehran
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN273.50	$2.75 IRR115,752	-9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.01 BTN361.23	$6.55 IRR275,904	+63.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$68,000.00 IRR2,864,216,667
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.89 BTN1,703.55	$2.85 IRR120,044	-84.9%
Average			-10.3%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Tehran
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.44 BTN2,384.70	$5.76 IRR242,469	-78.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$122.58 BTN11,055.30	$450.54 IRR18,977,186	+267.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$71.54 BTN6,452.30	$321.19 IRR13,528,870	+349.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$17.80 BTN1,605.62	$12.05 IRR507,632	-32.3%
Average			+126.5%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of housing

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pay 81.4% more for childcare

	Thimphu	Tehran
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.40 BTN21,230.86	$123.82 IRR5,215,378	-47.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$648.40 BTN58,480.22	$2,011.10 IRR84,709,007	+210.2%
Average			+81.4%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Tehran
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.82 BTN254.26	$0.65 IRR27,379	-76.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.40 BTN126.11	$1.23 IRR51,928	-11.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.66 BTN330.54	$2.50 IRR105,302	-31.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.99 BTN4,237.70	$21.91 IRR922,985	-53.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.38 BTN305.11	$1.50 IRR63,181	-55.7%
Average			-45.9%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.9 times more for clothing

	Thimphu	Tehran
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$9.02 BTN813.64	$25.24 IRR1,062,942	+179.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$11.28 BTN1,017.05	$30.76 IRR1,295,538	+172.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$31.01 BTN2,796.88	$117.65 IRR4,955,394	+279.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$31.01 BTN2,796.88	$69.84 IRR2,941,519	+125.2%
Average			+189.3%

Thimphu vs. Tehran - 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: December 2025

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