Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 3.9 times more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants: pay 68.7% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 9.3% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 91.7% more in Laos
Housing: pay 29.8% less in Laos
Childcare: pay 19.5 times more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.4% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 3.0 times more in Laos

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

Laos vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Tonga, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 68.7% less for restaurants

	Tonga	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$2.08 LAK44,512	-75.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$5.54 LAK119K	-46.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$0.76 LAK16,277	-73.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$0.50 LAK10,610	-79.9%
Average			-68.7%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.3% less for groceries

	Tonga	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$1.13 LAK24,315	+9.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$13.26 LAK284K	+194.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$6.91 LAK148K	+16.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$2.11 LAK45,122	-58.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$2.10 LAK44,911	-21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$0.76 LAK16,239	-39.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$0.75 LAK16,074	-40.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$0.97 LAK20,772	-26.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$1.30 LAK27,935	-23.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$0.70 LAK15,106	-51.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$0.46 LAK9,807	-61.6%
Average			-9.3%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 91.7% more for transportation

	Tonga	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$4.72 LAK101K	-14.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$54.89 LAK1M	+32.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$28,639.89 LAK614M	+392.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$10.51 LAK225K	-43.8%
Average			+91.7%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.8% less for housing

	Tonga	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$9.16 LAK196K	-92.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$1,004.64 LAK22M	+61.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$817.42 LAK18M
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$59.90 LAK1M	-58.1%
Average			-29.8%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 19.5 times more for childcare

	Tonga	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$296.67 LAK6M	+88.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$9,267.93 LAK199M	+3619.2%
Average			+1853.6%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Tonga	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$1.42 LAK30,415	-57.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$1.66 LAK35,486	-43.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$1.98 LAK42,449	-80.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$67.50 LAK1M	+116.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$3.02 LAK64,766	-92.7%
Average			-31.4%

Tonga vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.0 times more for clothing

	Tonga	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$50.20 LAK1M	+245.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$65.21 LAK1M	+269.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$66.39 LAK1M	+219.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$47.52 LAK1M	+63.5%
Average			+199.5%

Tonga vs. Laos - 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: March 2026

Compare further: Tonga vs. Laos

Quality of Life Comparison · 10 statistics

Be 48.7% less likely to be unemployed in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Tonga is about 317 times smaller than Laos.

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