Cost of living comparison

Vanuatu

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Vanuatu Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 33.3% cheaper than Vanuatu overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.2% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 33.9% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 1.1% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 59.4% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 52.4% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 17.1% more in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare and clothing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Vanuatu. Expenses including housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica vs. Vanuatu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Vanuatu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.2% less for restaurants

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.67 VUV1,500	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	-12.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.35 VUV1,700	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	-24.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 VUV270	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	+6.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 VUV279	$1.79 CRC813.02	-24.2%
Average			-16.2%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.9% less for groceries

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 VUV230	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	+42.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.86 VUV1,050	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	-45.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.63 VUV1,259	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	-21.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.23 VUV737	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	-41.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.40 VUV877	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	-40.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 VUV384	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	-32.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$0.73 CRC329.98	-24.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 VUV211	$1.67 CRC758.13	-6.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.21 VUV499	$1.43 CRC652.25	-66.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$4.02 VUV476	$1.44 CRC655.18	-64.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.57 VUV186	$1.33 CRC603.93	-15.5%
Average			-33.9%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% less for transportation

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.78 VUV803	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	-14.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.55 VUV8,000	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	-1.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,220.47 VUV3M	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-1.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.29 VUV1,100	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	+69.1%
Average			-1.1%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.4% less for housing

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$363.08 VUV43,000	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	-85.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,579.90 VUV187K	$834.08 CRC380K	-47.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,131.05 VUV134K	$597.43 CRC272K	-47.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$484.28 VUV57,353	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-85.8%
Average			-59.4%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 52.4% more for childcare

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$624.84 VUV74,000	$742.27 CRC338K	+18.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,873.26 VUV814K	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+95.5%
Average			+52.4%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.07 VUV600	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-42.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.08 VUV483	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	-0.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.29 VUV1,100	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	-43.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.29 VUV8,088	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	-2.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$7.92 CRC3,603.80
Average			-20.9%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.1% more for clothing

	Vanuatu	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.99 VUV4,854	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	+64.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.55 VUV8,000	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	-26.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.40 VUV9,995	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	+45.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.28 VUV11,995	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	+7.1%
Average			+17.1%

Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica - 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: Vanuatu vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 4.9 times more money in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Vanuatu is about 4.2 times smaller than Costa Rica.

Moving from Vanuatu to Costa Rica · Cost, visas & climate

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