Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cook Islands vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 82.0% more expensive than Zambia overall.

Restaurants
pay 2.2 times more in Cook Islands
Groceries
pay 75.8% more in Cook Islands
Transportation
pay 30.5% more in Cook Islands
Housing
pay 91.2% more in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.4 times more in Cook Islands

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, and transportation in Cook Islands are more expensive than in Zambia. Notably, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Cook Islands.

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Cook Islands vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cook Islands instead of Zambia, you would:

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $5.53
ZMW110.20
$14.01
NZ$24.77
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $5.03
ZMW100.18
$5.60
NZ$9.91
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.63
ZMW12.52
$2.24
NZ$3.96
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pay 75.8% more for groceries

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Bread
1 loaf
 $1.18
ZMW23.48
$2.80
NZ$4.95
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.15
ZMW102.63
$3.64
NZ$6.44
Milk (1 gallon) $6.37
ZMW126.88
$10.60
NZ$18.75
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pay 30.5% more for transportation

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.47
ZMW108.98
$6.38
NZ$11.29
Monthly public transit pass $50.15
ZMW999.41
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $7,541.11
ZMW150K
$11,204.09
NZ$19,812.72
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pay 91.2% more for housing

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $54.99
ZMW1,095.72
$102.89
NZ$181.95
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $280.45
ZMW5,588.55
$448.16
NZ$792.51
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $165.11
ZMW3,290.10
$448.16
NZ$792.51
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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $138.25
ZMW2,754.96
??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,638.36
ZMW332K
??
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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.26
ZMW25.05
$5.04
NZ$8.92
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.82
ZMW56.21
$3.36
NZ$5.94
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $3.02
ZMW60.11
$11.20
NZ$19.81
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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Zambia
Cook Islands
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $23.28
ZMW463.85
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $15.45
ZMW307.88
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $45.19
ZMW900.42
??
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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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Compare further: Zambia vs. Cook Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Cook Islands?
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Quality of Life Comparison · 11 statistics
Be 3.8 times more likely to have internet access in Cook Islands
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Zambia is about 3,189 times bigger than Cook Islands.
→
Moving from Zambia to Cook Islands · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
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