Cost of living comparison

Tonga

compared to

Maldives

Maldives vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 18.6% more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants: pay 35.7% less in Maldives
Groceries: pay 12.8% less in Maldives
Transportation: pay 35.8% more in Maldives
Housing: pay 18.5% more in Maldives
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.0% less in Maldives
Clothing: pay 2.8 times more in Maldives

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

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Maldives vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 35.7% less for restaurants

	Tonga	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$6.00 MVR92.74	-27.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$9.57 MVR147.88	-7.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$1.63 MVR25.12	-42.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$0.30 MVR4.59	-87.9%
Average			-35.7%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.8% less for groceries

	Tonga	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$1.65 MVR25.57	+59.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$3.48 MVR53.75	-22.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$6.83 MVR105.52	+15.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$1.87 MVR28.89	-63.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$2.76 MVR42.72	+3.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$1.80 MVR27.83	+43.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$1.39 MVR21.40	+10.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$1.59 MVR24.56	+20.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$1.22 MVR18.83	-28.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$0.75 MVR11.63	-47.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$0.69 MVR10.63	-42.3%
Average			-12.8%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.8% more for transportation

	Tonga	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$3.81 MVR58.81	-30.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$30.82 MVR476.23	-25.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+458.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$17.52 MVR270.70	-6.3%
Average			+35.8%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.5% more for housing

	Tonga	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	-41.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	+67.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$739.32 MVR11,422.43
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	-40.4%
Average			+18.5%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Tonga	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	+17.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	+1105.4%
Average			+275.8%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Tonga	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$4.87 MVR75.19	+46.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$3.55 MVR54.82	+22.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$13.95 MVR215.56	+37.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+127.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$9.73 MVR150.39	-76.6%
Average			-1.0%

Tonga vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.8 times more for clothing

	Tonga	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$39.51 MVR610.41	+171.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$49.63 MVR766.77	+181.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	+319.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$52.50 MVR811.17	+80.6%
Average			+175.8%

Tonga vs. Maldives - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Tonga vs. Maldives

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Maldives?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 2.2 times more likely to be unemployed in Maldives

Size Comparison · See true size

Tonga is about 2.5 times bigger than Maldives.

Moving from Tonga to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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