Cost of living comparison

Tonga

compared to

New Zealand

New Zealand vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 44.6% more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.3% more in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 1.9% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 90.1% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 13.0% more in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 17.6 times more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% less in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 3.5 times more in New Zealand

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

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New Zealand vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Tonga, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.3% more for restaurants

	Tonga	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$13.26 NZ$23.46	+59.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$8.99 NZ$15.90	-13.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$2.04 NZ$3.61	-28.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$1.83 NZ$3.24	-25.5%
Average			+10.3%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.9% less for groceries

	Tonga	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$1.73 NZ$3.05	+66.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$3.78 NZ$6.69	-15.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$6.47 NZ$11.45	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$5.79 NZ$10.24	+13.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$3.83 NZ$6.77	+43.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$1.22 NZ$2.15	-3.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$0.94 NZ$1.67	-24.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$1.32 NZ$2.33
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$2.20 NZ$3.89	+29.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$0.89 NZ$1.57	-38.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$0.67 NZ$1.18	-44.2%
Average			-1.9%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 90.1% more for transportation

	Tonga	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$6.34 NZ$11.21	+15.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$83.43 NZ$147.53	+100.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	+314.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$17.20 NZ$30.41	-8.0%
Average			+90.1%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.0% more for housing

	Tonga	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$49.30 NZ$87.18	-60.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	+56.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$95.64 NZ$169.12	-33.1%
Average			+13.0%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 17.6 times more for childcare

	Tonga	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	+354.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	+6697.0%
Average			+1657.1%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Tonga	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$5.70 NZ$10.07	+71.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$3.26 NZ$5.77	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$22.75 NZ$40.22	+123.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$39.17 NZ$69.26	+25.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$10.27 NZ$18.16	-75.3%
Average			-7.8%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.5 times more for clothing

	Tonga	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$63.30 NZ$111.94	+335.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$33.63 NZ$59.46	+90.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$91.48 NZ$161.76	+340.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$114.46 NZ$202.41	+293.7%
Average			+246.3%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - 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

Compare further: Tonga vs. New Zealand

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in New Zealand?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 7.6 times more money in New Zealand

Size Comparison · See true size

Tonga is about 360 times smaller than New Zealand.

Moving from Tonga to New Zealand · OECD 2023

2,658 people moved from Tonga to New Zealand.

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