Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Port Moresby is 20.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 47.1% less in Port Moresby
Groceries: pay 12.6% more in Port Moresby
Transportation: pay 29.8% less in Port Moresby
Housing: pay 20.3% less in Port Moresby
Childcare: pay 38.2% less in Port Moresby
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.1% less in Port Moresby
Clothing: pay 9.2% less in Port Moresby

Expenses including restaurants, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, housing, and clothing are lower in Port Moresby.

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Port Moresby vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Moresby instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 47.1% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.27	$7.78 PGK35.37	-43.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.95	$5.56 PGK25.27	-38.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$0.75 PGK3.41	-69.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$0.67 PGK3.03	-61.0%
Average			-47.1%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.6% more for groceries

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$1.52 PGK6.91	-29.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$4.32 PGK19.64	-6.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$7.10 PGK32.28	-0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$3.69 PGK16.78	-46.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$2.58 PGK11.75	-40.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$1.95 PGK8.88	+39.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$1.44 PGK6.57	+46.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$3.29 PGK14.97	+140.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$2.92 PGK13.29	-0.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$1.51 PGK6.88	+58.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$1.31 PGK5.96	+130.1%
Average			+12.6%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.8% less for transportation

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$3.78 PGK17.18	-46.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$179.01	$22.22 PGK101.06	-78.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	$50,004.77 PGK227K	+98.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$23.34 PGK106.12	+44.1%
Average			-29.8%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.3% less for housing

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$91.68 PGK416.89	+71.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$1,603.86 PGK7,293.44	+32.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$555.61 PGK2,526.59	-51.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$89.65 PGK407.67	-40.2%
Average			-20.3%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

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pay 38.2% less for childcare

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$842.47 PGK3,831.07	-20.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	$6,176.41 PGK28,086.83	-52.1%
Average			-38.2%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$3.00 PGK13.64	-58.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$2.47 PGK11.24	-26.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$6.45 PGK29.31	-74.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$61.49 PGK279.61	+61.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$8.89 PGK40.43	-26.2%
Average			-28.1%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.2% less for clothing

	Wellington	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$32.73 PGK148.82	-57.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$31.67 PGK144.02	+12.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$136.12 PGK619.02	+33.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$163.90 PGK745.35	+7.4%
Average			-9.2%

Wellington vs. Port Moresby - 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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