Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Taiwan

Taipei vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Taipei is 35.4% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 42.6% more in Taipei
Groceries: pay 71.0% more in Taipei
Transportation: pay 12.2% less in Taipei
Housing: pay 31.8% more in Taipei
Childcare: pay 26.3% more in Taipei
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.4% more in Taipei
Clothing: pay 52.6% more in Taipei

The cost of groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, restaurants, housing, and childcare in Taipei are more expensive than in Vientiane.

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Taipei vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.6% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Taipei
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK59,964	$4.71 NT$150.49	+76.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK120K	$5.65 NT$180.59	+5.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK15,990	$0.92 NT$29.35	+28.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,370	$0.65 NT$20.86	+74.8%
Average			+42.6%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of restaurants

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pay 71.0% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Taipei
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,613	$2.02 NT$64.65	+77.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK305K	$9.85 NT$314.68	-27.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$11.54 NT$368.90	+51.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK41,899	$2.72 NT$87.00	+45.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,026	$4.45 NT$142.21	+58.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,346	$2.23 NT$71.26	+105.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,606	$1.51 NT$48.15	+191.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,703	$1.38 NT$44.23	+16.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,564	$2.02 NT$64.54	+190.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,846	$1.25 NT$39.84	+88.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,942	$1.04 NT$33.27	+113.3%
Average			+71.0%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.2% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Taipei
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK126K	$3.94 NT$126.01	-29.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$37.67 NT$1,203.90	-22.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK632M	$33,523.97 NT$1M	+18.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK190K	$8.95 NT$285.93	+5.7%
Average			-12.2%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.8% more for housing

	Vientiane	Taipei
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK277K	$27.40 NT$875.71	+122.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK14M	$1,012.31 NT$32,354.87	+57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$482.92 NT$15,434.64	+16.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$66.27 NT$2,118.10	-4.3%
Average			+31.8%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of housing

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pay 26.3% more for childcare

	Vientiane	Taipei
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$662.67 NT$21,179.76	+6.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK249M	$16,675.66 NT$533K	+50.5%
Average			+26.3%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Taipei
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,482	$2.83 NT$90.29	+107.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,143	$3.42 NT$109.45	+91.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK39,976	$3.92 NT$125.41	+120.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$41.15 NT$1,315.12	-13.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK94,943	$9.73 NT$311.01	+129.8%
Average			+69.4%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 52.6% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Taipei
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK600K	$63.18 NT$2,019.38	+136.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK1M	$39.99 NT$1,277.99	-40.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$84.98 NT$2,715.95	+49.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK920K	$105.09 NT$3,358.66	+156.3%
Average			+52.6%

Vientiane vs. Taipei - 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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