Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 60.5% cheaper than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 42.9% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 40.0% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 38.8% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 73.8% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 93.8% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.6% less in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 64.2% less in Thimphu

Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, restaurants, groceries, and transportation are lower in Thimphu.

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Thimphu vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.9% less for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$2.58 BTN243.12	-53.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$4.91 BTN461.92	-11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$0.50 BTN47.00	-41.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.18 BTN17.02	-69.4%
Average			-42.9%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.0% less for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.07 BTN100.89	+7.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$1.88 BTN176.66	-69.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$3.03 BTN285.29	-44.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$1.88 BTN176.99	-10.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$1.79 BTN168.72	-19.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$1.15 BTN108.07	-17.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.69 BTN65.06	-36.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$0.73 BTN68.37	-57.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$0.33 BTN31.43	-75.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.26 BTN24.26	-21.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.31 BTN29.22	-35.4%
Average			-40.0%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.8% less for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$2.79 BTN262.03	-35.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$5.17 BTN486.23	-69.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-38.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$13.18 BTN1,239.89	+171.1%
Average			-38.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

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pay 73.8% less for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$24.17 BTN2,273.54	+77.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$127.00 BTN11,944.77	-77.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$86.02 BTN8,090.25	-80.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$25.81 BTN2,427.09	-52.5%
Average			-73.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

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pay 93.8% less for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$44.98 BTN4,230.15	-94.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$568.68 BTN53,485.51	-93.1%
Average			-93.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$2.58 BTN243.12	+9.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$1.28 BTN119.94	-47.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$3.88 BTN364.67	+130.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$46.53 BTN4,376.09	-31.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$3.10 BTN291.74	-25.6%
Average			-17.6%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 64.2% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$49.97 BTN4,700.17	-38.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$24.99 BTN2,350.08	-44.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$67.21 BTN6,321.01	-34.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$13.96 BTN1,312.83	-92.6%
Average			-64.2%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Thimphu - 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

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