Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Macedonia

Skopje vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Skopje is 1.1% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Skopje
Groceries: pay 25.2% less in Skopje
Transportation: pay 8.6% less in Skopje
Housing: pay 15.4% less in Skopje
Childcare: pay 46.0% less in Skopje
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% more in Skopje
Clothing: pay 71.0% more in Skopje

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

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Skopje vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Skopje
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$9.58 MKD525.47	+258.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$6.45 MKD353.80	+20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$1.83 MKD100.43	+156.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$1.34 MKD73.75	+260.3%
Average			+136.9%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.2% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Skopje
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$0.77 MKD42.21	-32.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$3.98 MKD218.01	-70.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$4.76 MKD261.02	-37.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.46 MKD134.98	+31.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$3.35 MKD183.84	+19.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$0.66 MKD36.01	-39.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.64 MKD35.19	+24.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.61 MKD33.45	-48.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.87 MKD47.64	+25.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.39 MKD21.34	-41.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.37 MKD20.09	-24.9%
Average			-25.2%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.6% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Skopje
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$6.00 MKD328.99	+6.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$27.26 MKD1,494.95	-43.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$35,440.15 MKD2M	+25.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$5.82 MKD318.92	-31.3%
Average			-8.6%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.4% less for housing

	Vientiane	Skopje
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$19.00 MKD1,041.93	+54.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$418.20 MKD22,932.64	-35.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$324.42 MKD17,790.03	-21.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$119.51 MKD6,553.79	+72.7%
Average			-15.4%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of housing

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pay 46.0% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Skopje
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$355.23 MKD19,479.61	-43.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$5,681.18 MKD312K	-48.7%
Average			-46.0%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Skopje
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$2.73 MKD149.49	+100.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$2.09 MKD114.88	+17.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.45 MKD189.36	+93.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$38.17 MKD2,092.93	-19.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$7.27 MKD398.65	+71.7%
Average			+37.3%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 71.0% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Skopje
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$84.15 MKD4,614.40	+214.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$36.88 MKD2,022.17	-44.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$101.78 MKD5,581.14	+79.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$112.67 MKD6,178.55	+174.8%
Average			+71.0%

Vientiane vs. Skopje - 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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