Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Zimbabwe

Harare vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Harare is 4.5% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 95.7% more in Harare
Groceries: pay 3.2% less in Harare
Transportation: pay 14.7% more in Harare
Housing: pay 26.4% less in Harare
Childcare: pay 26.8% less in Harare
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.0% more in Harare
Clothing: pay 34.5% less in Harare

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

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Harare vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 95.7% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Harare
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	+274.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.75 ZWL1,851.50	+7.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$0.96 ZWL308.58	+34.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.47 ZWL151.05	+25.7%
Average			+95.7%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Harare
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.00 ZWL322.00	-12.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$5.73 ZWL1,845.30	-57.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$5.73 ZWL1,843.59	-24.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$1.93 ZWL622.53	+3.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.46 ZWL791.38	-12.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$1.37 ZWL439.66	+25.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.76 ZWL243.55	+46.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.92 ZWL296.54	-22.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.70 ZWL226.23	+1.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.78 ZWL251.62	+18.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.80 ZWL257.47	+63.9%
Average			-3.2%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.7% more for transportation

	Vientiane	Harare
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$6.91 ZWL2,223.82	+22.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$60.00 ZWL19,320.00	+23.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$22,000.00 ZWL7M	-22.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$20.00 ZWL6,440.00	+136.2%
Average			+14.7%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.4% less for housing

	Vientiane	Harare
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$68.99 ZWL22,213.67	+459.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$390.00 ZWL126K	-39.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$316.60 ZWL102K	-23.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$39.27 ZWL12,644.39	-43.3%
Average			-26.4%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of housing

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pay 26.8% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Harare
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$433.79 ZWL140K	-30.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$8,555.56 ZWL3M	-22.8%
Average			-26.8%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Harare
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$1.25 ZWL402.50	-8.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$3.00 ZWL966.00	+67.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$2.00 ZWL644.00	+12.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$47.92 ZWL15,429.17	+0.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	+136.2%
Average			+37.0%

Vientiane vs. Harare - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.5% less for clothing

	Vientiane	Harare
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$23.22 ZWL7,477.56	-13.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$21.15 ZWL6,809.04	-68.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$38.68 ZWL12,453.92	-31.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$40.37 ZWL12,998.47	-1.6%
Average			-34.5%

Vientiane vs. Harare - 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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See the cost of living in Laos vs. Zimbabwe. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Laos and Zimbabwe.

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