Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Vietnam Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 59.6% more expensive than Vietnam overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.4% more in Laos
Groceries: pay 27.3% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 93.2% more in Laos
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 3.8% less in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.9% more in Laos
Clothing: pay 12.5% more in Laos

The cost of housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, and clothing in Laos are more expensive than in Vietnam. Notably, housing and transportation are significantly more expensive in Laos.

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Laos vs. Vietnam Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Vietnam, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.4% more for restaurants

	Vietnam	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.93 ₫49,968	$2.23 LAK50,211	+15.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.06 ₫105K	$5.35 LAK121K	+31.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ₫13,022	$0.79 LAK17,779	+56.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 ₫7,715	$0.46 LAK10,439	+55.5%
Average			+28.4%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.3% more for groceries

	Vietnam	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$0.96 ₫24,827	$1.14 LAK25,737	+19.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.37 ₫139K	$12.87 LAK290K	+139.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.69 ₫147K	$6.94 LAK156K	+22.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.51 ₫39,111	$1.87 LAK42,101	+23.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.71 ₫44,332	$2.81 LAK63,330	+64.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 ₫34,270	$0.84 LAK18,975	-36.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ₫13,159	$0.52 LAK11,662	+1.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 ₫15,883	$1.19 LAK26,832	+94.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ₫14,322	$0.69 LAK15,639	+25.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ₫12,823	$0.66 LAK14,918	+33.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 ₫13,288	$0.49 LAK10,995	-4.9%
Average			+27.3%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.2% more for transportation

	Vietnam	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.36 ₫87,093	$5.01 LAK113K	+49.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.12 ₫184K	$52.98 LAK1M	+643.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$27,872.00 LAK628M	-9.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.75 ₫149K	$9.14 LAK206K	+59.0%
Average			+93.2%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Vietnam	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.92 ₫231K	$9.51 LAK214K	+6.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$387.95 ₫10M	$885.68 LAK20M	+128.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$257.72 ₫7M	$631.74 LAK14M	+145.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.62 ₫1M	$65.79 LAK1M	+32.6%
Average			+108.4%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8% less for childcare

	Vietnam	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$321.30 ₫8M	$435.49 LAK10M	+35.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,628.65 ₫379M	$9,982.68 LAK225M	-31.8%
Average			-3.8%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Vietnam	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.91 ₫23,577	$1.32 LAK29,812	+45.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.63 ₫42,237	$1.66 LAK37,366	+1.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.36 ₫35,110	$1.78 LAK40,169	+31.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$20.59 ₫533K	$64.54 LAK1M	+213.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.14 ₫81,316	$3.32 LAK74,750	+5.6%
Average			+49.9%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.5% more for clothing

	Vietnam	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.00 ₫1M	$48.46 LAK1M	+18.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.08 ₫623K	$62.95 LAK1M	+161.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.97 ₫2M	$64.36 LAK1M	-16.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$74.18 ₫2M	$46.02 LAK1M	-38.0%
Average			+12.5%

Vietnam vs. Laos - 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

Compare further: Vietnam vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 3.6 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Vietnam is about 1.4 times bigger than Laos.

Moving from Vietnam to Laos · UN DESA 2020

20,270 people born in Vietnam live in Laos.

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