Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 73.7% more expensive than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 30.8% more in Laos
Groceries: pay 42.9% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 73.7% more in Laos
Housing: pay 3.5 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 23.6% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 98.2% more in Laos

The cost of housing, clothing, transportation, groceries, restaurants, and childcare in Laos are more expensive than in Zambia. Notably, housing and clothing are significantly more expensive in Laos.

Laos vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.8% more for restaurants

	Zambia	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.35 ZMW141.40	$2.08 LAK44,509	-71.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.72 ZMW71.49	$5.54 LAK119K	+49.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 ZMW9.43	$0.76 LAK16,275	+55.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 ZMW4.99	$0.50 LAK10,610	+90.9%
Average			+30.8%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.9% more for groceries

	Zambia	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 ZMW14.76	$1.13 LAK24,313	+47.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 ZMW72.35	$13.26 LAK284K	+252.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.89 ZMW94.06	$6.91 LAK148K	+41.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.53 ZMW29.49	$2.11 LAK45,119	+37.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.78 ZMW34.31	$2.10 LAK44,908	+17.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 ZMW17.24	$0.76 LAK16,237	-15.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZMW14.01	$0.75 LAK16,073	+3.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 ZMW23.52	$0.97 LAK20,771	-20.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ZMW9.61	$1.30 LAK27,933	+160.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 ZMW17.04	$0.70 LAK15,104	-20.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 ZMW12.87	$0.46 LAK9,806	-31.6%
Average			+42.9%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 73.7% more for transportation

	Zambia	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZMW88.01	$4.72 LAK101K	+3.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.52 ZMW740.77	$54.89 LAK1M	+42.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,004.53 ZMW154K	$28,639.89 LAK614M	+257.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.53 ZMW221.80	$10.51 LAK225K	-8.9%
Average			+73.7%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.5 times more for housing

	Zambia	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$118.37 ZMW2,276.46	$9.16 LAK196K	-92.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$176.52 ZMW3,394.83	$1,004.64 LAK22M	+469.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$115.74 ZMW2,225.80	$817.42 LAK18M	+606.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$52.70 ZMW1,013.59	$59.90 LAK1M	+13.7%
Average			+249.2%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 23.6% more for childcare

	Zambia	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$176.79 ZMW3,399.98	$296.67 LAK6M	+67.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,677.88 ZMW225K	$9,267.93 LAK199M	-20.6%
Average			+23.6%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.98 ZMW18.78	$1.42 LAK30,412	+45.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZMW39.37	$1.66 LAK35,483	-19.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.67 ZMW70.67	$1.98 LAK42,446	-46.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.47 ZMW970.60	$67.50 LAK1M	+33.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.18 ZMW80.48	$3.02 LAK64,761	-27.8%
Average			-2.8%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 98.2% more for clothing

	Zambia	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.93 ZMW364.01	$50.20 LAK1M	+165.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.99 ZMW326.75	$65.21 LAK1M	+283.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.33 ZMW1,621.79	$66.39 LAK1M	-21.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.12 ZMW1,406.30	$47.52 LAK1M	-35.0%
Average			+98.2%

Zambia 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: March 2026

Compare further: Zambia vs. Laos

Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics

Be 3.0 times more likely to have internet access in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 3.2 times bigger than Laos.

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