Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Vietnam Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 81.7% more expensive than Vietnam overall.

Restaurants: pay 40.4% more in Laos
Groceries: pay 54.7% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in Laos
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 12.2% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 67.4% more in Laos
Clothing: pay 54.4% more in Laos

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

Laos vs. Vietnam Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 40.4% more for restaurants

	Vietnam	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.88 ₫48,918	$2.08 LAK44,513	+10.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.13 ₫107K	$5.54 LAK119K	+34.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 ₫13,743	$0.76 LAK16,277	+43.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 ₫7,400	$0.50 LAK10,610	+73.7%
Average			+40.4%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.7% more for groceries

	Vietnam	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$0.86 ₫22,310	$1.13 LAK24,315	+32.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.32 ₫138K	$13.26 LAK284K	+149.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.20 ₫135K	$6.91 LAK148K	+32.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.45 ₫37,570	$2.11 LAK45,123	+45.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.56 ₫40,405	$2.10 LAK44,912	+34.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 ₫30,735	$0.76 LAK16,239	-36.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 ₫12,226	$0.75 LAK16,074	+59.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,932	$0.97 LAK20,772	+68.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 ₫12,740	$1.30 LAK27,935	+165.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 ₫12,055	$0.70 LAK15,106	+51.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 ₫12,108	$0.46 LAK9,807	-1.9%
Average			+54.7%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Vietnam	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.19 ₫82,838	$4.72 LAK101K	+48.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.64 ₫172K	$54.89 LAK1M	+726.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,225.24 ₫862M	$28,639.89 LAK614M	-13.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.90 ₫153K	$10.51 LAK225K	+78.0%
Average			+209.6%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Vietnam	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.68 ₫225K	$9.16 LAK196K	+5.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$310.38 ₫8M	$1,004.64 LAK22M	+223.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$223.57 ₫6M	$817.42 LAK18M	+265.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.27 ₫1M	$59.90 LAK1M	+38.4%
Average			+133.3%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 12.2% more for childcare

	Vietnam	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.23 ₫5M	$296.67 LAK6M	+48.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,262.04 ₫318M	$9,267.93 LAK199M	-24.4%
Average			+12.2%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 67.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Vietnam	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.93 ₫24,163	$1.42 LAK30,415	+52.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.60 ₫41,481	$1.66 LAK35,486	+3.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.28 ₫33,179	$1.98 LAK42,449	+55.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$20.38 ₫529K	$67.50 LAK1M	+231.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.19 ₫82,900	$3.02 LAK64,766	-5.4%
Average			+67.4%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 54.4% more for clothing

	Vietnam	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$31.66 ₫822K	$50.20 LAK1M	+58.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.29 ₫553K	$65.21 LAK1M	+206.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.72 ₫2M	$66.39 LAK1M	-8.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.26 ₫2M	$47.52 LAK1M	-38.5%
Average			+54.4%

Vietnam vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: February 2026

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