Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Latvia

Riga vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Riga is 32.3% more expensive than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Riga
Groceries: pay 1.6% more in Riga
Transportation: pay 60.0% more in Riga
Housing: pay 24.7% more in Riga
Childcare: pay 29.8% more in Riga
Entertainment and Sports: pay 74.8% more in Riga
Clothing: pay 12.8% less in Riga

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, childcare, housing, and groceries in Riga are more expensive than in Ulaanbaatar. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Riga.

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Riga vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riga instead of Ulaanbaatar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$16.80 €14.99	+202.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$9.24 €8.25	+66.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$1.61 €1.44	+88.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$1.18 €1.05	+99.6%
Average			+124.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.6% more for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.43 €1.28	+43.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$5.22 €4.66	-15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$4.41 €3.93	-19.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$3.76 €3.35	+78.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$3.91 €3.49	+76.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$1.00 €0.89	-28.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.83 €0.74	-24.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$1.13 €1.01	-33.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$1.40 €1.25	+1.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.40 €0.36	+21.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.42 €0.38	-12.6%
Average			+1.6%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.0% more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$7.75 €6.92	+79.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$33.59 €29.98	+101.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$27,308.11 €24,373.53	+1.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$11.42 €10.19	+134.9%
Average			+60.0%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of transportation

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pay 24.7% more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$20.41 €18.22	+49.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$582.45 €519.86	+2.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$385.02 €343.64	-13.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$286.52 €255.73	+426.9%
Average			+24.7%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of housing

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pay 29.8% more for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$645.25 €575.91	-21.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$17,635.84 €15,740.65	+113.4%
Average			+29.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of childcare

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pay 74.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$5.60 €5.00	+137.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$3.72 €3.32	+54.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$6.72 €6.00	+300.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$49.91 €44.54	-26.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$10.75 €9.59	+157.9%
Average			+74.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.8% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Riga
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$69.42 €61.96	-15.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$50.39 €44.97	+11.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$85.85 €76.62	-16.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$138.10 €123.26	-26.4%
Average			-12.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Riga - 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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