Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Eritrea

Asmara vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Asmara is 20.1% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Asmara
Groceries: pay 12.2% more in Asmara
Transportation: pay 1.1% less in Asmara
Housing: pay 51.5% less in Asmara
Childcare: pay 90.3% less in Asmara
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.0% less in Asmara
Clothing: pay 3.3 times more in Asmara

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

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Asmara vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Asmara instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Asmara
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$21.00 ERN315.00	+685.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.99 ERN89.85	+12.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$1.00 ERN15.00	+40.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$1.00 ERN15.00	+167.9%
Average			+200.3%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.2% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Asmara
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	??
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$1.50 ERN22.50	-89.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$6.06 ERN90.85	-20.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$4.38 ERN65.70	+134.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$12.17 ERN182.57	+333.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$5.54 ERN83.16	+410.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.58 ERN8.69	+12.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.91 ERN13.61	-23.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.53 ERN7.94	-23.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.82 ERN12.25	+23.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.42 ERN6.35	-13.2%
Average			+12.2%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Asmara
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$9.46 ERN141.95	+68.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$8.00 ERN120.00	-83.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	+136.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	??
Average			-1.1%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of transportation

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pay 51.5% less for housing

	Vientiane	Asmara
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+1522.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	-61.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	-51.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$19.12 ERN286.76	-72.4%
Average			-51.5%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of housing

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pay 90.3% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Asmara
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$25.00 ERN375.00	-96.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	-76.5%
Average			-90.3%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Asmara
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$0.60 ERN9.00	-55.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$0.80 ERN12.00	-55.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$27.00 ERN405.00	-43.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$1.20 ERN18.00	-71.7%
Average			-58.0%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.3 times more for clothing

	Vientiane	Asmara
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	+404.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	+79.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+252.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	+265.8%
Average			+228.8%

Vientiane vs. Asmara - 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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