Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Male is 33.9% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 88.4% more in Male
Groceries: pay 29.8% more in Male
Transportation: pay 12.6% less in Male
Housing: pay 64.2% more in Male
Childcare: pay 71.7% less in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5 times more in Male
Clothing: pay 21.2% more in Male

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

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Male vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 88.4% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,126	$6.00 MVR92.74	+124.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK120K	$9.73 MVR150.39	+82.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,034	$1.63 MVR25.12	+128.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,393	$0.30 MVR4.59	-20.4%
Average			+88.4%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.8% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,683	$1.65 MVR25.57	+44.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$5.34 MVR82.43	-60.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$7.69 MVR118.80	+1.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,012	$1.92 MVR29.70	+2.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,196	$2.77 MVR42.73	-1.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,412	$1.80 MVR27.83	+65.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,638	$1.39 MVR21.40	+167.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,775	$1.85 MVR28.65	+55.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,606	$1.22 MVR18.84	+75.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,886	$0.93 MVR14.40	+40.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,972	$0.86 MVR13.30	+76.4%
Average			+29.8%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK126K	$3.81 MVR58.81	-32.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$30.82 MVR476.23	-36.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK634M	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+15.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK190K	$17.52 MVR270.70	+106.9%
Average			-12.6%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.2% more for housing

	Vientiane	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK277K	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+492.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK14M	$951.14 MVR14,695.19	+47.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$699.92 MVR10,813.71	+68.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$90.98 MVR1,405.60	+31.4%
Average			+64.2%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 71.7% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$184.98 MVR2,857.90	-70.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK249M	$3,004.83 MVR46,424.59	-72.9%
Average			-71.7%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,564	$4.87 MVR75.19	+258.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,251	$3.55 MVR54.84	+98.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,084	$14.93 MVR230.60	+737.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+49.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,200	$9.73 MVR150.39	+129.9%
Average			+149.0%

Vientiane vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.2% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK601K	$39.51 MVR610.48	+47.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$49.64 MVR766.88	-25.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$87.13 MVR1,346.11	+53.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK922K	$52.52 MVR811.39	+28.1%
Average			+21.2%

Vientiane vs. Male - 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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