Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Port Moresby is 54.7% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 74.5% more in Port Moresby
Groceries: pay 65.6% more in Port Moresby
Transportation: pay 5.9% less in Port Moresby
Housing: pay 86.2% more in Port Moresby
Childcare: pay 13.3% less in Port Moresby
Entertainment and Sports: pay 82.4% more in Port Moresby
Clothing: pay 53.6% more in Port Moresby

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

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Port Moresby vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Moresby instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 74.5% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$7.78 PGK35.37	+190.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.56 PGK25.27	+3.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$0.75 PGK3.41	+5.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.67 PGK3.03	+78.6%
Average			+74.5%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

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pay 65.6% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.52 PGK6.91	+33.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$4.32 PGK19.64	-68.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$7.10 PGK32.28	-6.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$3.69 PGK16.78	+97.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.58 PGK11.75	-8.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$1.95 PGK8.88	+79.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.44 PGK6.57	+179.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$3.29 PGK14.97	+176.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$2.92 PGK13.29	+321.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$1.51 PGK6.88	+128.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$1.31 PGK5.96	+168.6%
Average			+65.6%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.9% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$3.78 PGK17.18	-32.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$22.22 PGK101.06	-54.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$50,004.77 PGK227K	+77.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$23.34 PGK106.12	+175.6%
Average			-5.9%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

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pay 86.2% more for housing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$91.68 PGK416.89	+643.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$1,603.86 PGK7,293.44	+149.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$555.61 PGK2,526.59	+34.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$89.65 PGK407.67	+29.5%
Average			+86.2%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

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pay 13.3% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$842.47 PGK3,831.07	+34.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$6,176.41 PGK28,086.83	-44.3%
Average			-13.3%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

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pay 82.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$3.00 PGK13.64	+120.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$2.47 PGK11.24	+38.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$6.45 PGK29.31	+261.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$61.49 PGK279.61	+29.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$8.89 PGK40.43	+110.0%
Average			+82.4%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 53.6% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$32.73 PGK148.82	+22.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$31.67 PGK144.02	-52.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$136.12 PGK619.02	+139.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$163.90 PGK745.35	+299.7%
Average			+53.6%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - 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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