Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 9.2% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 96.0% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 18.1% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 45.5% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 1.7% less in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 45.7% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.0% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 32.8% more in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 96.0% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+237.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.41 ZAR89.20	+1.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+48.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+128.1%
Average			+96.0%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.1% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-3.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-69.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-41.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+32.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-20.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-26.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+43.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-33.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+4.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-25.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.54 ZAR8.93	+11.0%
Average			-18.1%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.5% more for transportation

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+2.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+266.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+25.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-22.6%
Average			+45.5%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.7% less for housing

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+198.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-29.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	-2.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+66.8%
Average			-1.7%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 45.7% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-58.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-29.4%
Average			-45.7%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+87.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$2.25 ZAR37.17	+25.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+82.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-33.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+70.3%
Average			+30.0%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.8% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+98.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-52.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+61.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+102.1%
Average			+32.8%

Vientiane vs. Pretoria - 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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