Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kigali vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 14.1% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 37.5% more in Kigali
Groceries: pay 29.6% less in Kigali
Transportation: pay 7.6% less in Kigali
Housing: pay 12.3% less in Kigali
Childcare: pay 33.4% less in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.1% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 43.4% less in Kigali

Expenses including clothing, childcare, groceries, housing, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Kigali.

Kigali vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 37.5% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.31 LAK49,458	$3.45 RWF5,030	+49.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.54 LAK119K	$6.89 RWF10,060	+24.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 LAK13,282	$0.86 RWF1,252	+38.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK8,902	$0.57 RWF835	+37.7%
Average			+37.5%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.6% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$1.17 LAK25,008	$1.05 RWF1,526	-10.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.94 LAK299K	$2.26 RWF3,292	-83.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 LAK157K	$2.64 RWF3,856	-63.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 LAK38,814	$1.65 RWF2,414	-8.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.99 LAK64,107	$2.10 RWF3,057	-30.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 LAK19,193	$1.15 RWF1,683	+28.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 LAK10,718	$0.37 RWF538	-26.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 LAK20,115	$0.70 RWF1,024	-25.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 LAK13,012	$0.48 RWF700	-21.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 LAK15,853	$0.23 RWF332	-69.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 LAK9,970	$0.39 RWF570	-16.0%
Average			-29.6%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.6% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.18 LAK111K	$4.42 RWF6,453	-14.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.18 LAK1M	$29.30 RWF42,756	-41.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,736.24 LAK616M	$26,543.61 RWF39M	-7.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.86 LAK233K	$14.48 RWF21,126	+33.3%
Average			-7.6%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.3% less for housing

	Vientiane	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.39 LAK244K	$19.48 RWF28,420	+71.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$866.78 LAK19M	$575.44 RWF840K	-33.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$784.74 LAK17M	$322.51 RWF471K	-58.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.21 LAK1M	$39.98 RWF58,339	-27.6%
Average			-12.3%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 33.4% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$338.54 LAK7M	$166.62 RWF243K	-50.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,334.55 LAK200M	$7,842.43 RWF11M	-16.0%
Average			-33.4%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 LAK32,148	$1.03 RWF1,509	-31.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.73 LAK37,093	$2.31 RWF3,375	+33.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.96 LAK42,040	$1.72 RWF2,515	-12.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.52 LAK1M	$31.41 RWF45,830	-37.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.56 LAK76,245	$3.45 RWF5,030	-3.1%
Average			-10.1%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.4% less for clothing

	Vientiane	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$27.70 LAK593K	$19.19 RWF28,001	-30.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.25 LAK1M	$19.30 RWF28,169	-72.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$58.22 LAK1M	$22.98 RWF33,534	-60.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$42.19 LAK904K	$37.92 RWF55,331	-10.1%
Average			-43.4%

Vientiane vs. Kigali - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2026

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