Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 40.7% more expensive than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.8% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 12.4% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 38.9% more in Laos
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 37.5% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.6% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 66.4% more in Laos

The cost of housing, clothing, transportation, and childcare in Laos are more expensive than in Zambia. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Laos. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Laos.

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Laos vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.8% less for restaurants

	Zambia	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$2.23 LAK50,211	-59.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$5.35 LAK121K	+6.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 ZMW12.52	$0.79 LAK17,779	+25.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 ZMW7.20	$0.46 LAK10,439	+28.2%
Average			-28.8%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.4% less for groceries

	Zambia	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 ZMW23.48	$1.14 LAK25,737	-3.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$12.87 LAK290K	+149.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.37 ZMW126.88	$6.94 LAK156K	+9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ZMW35.36	$1.87 LAK42,101	+5.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$2.81 LAK63,330	-2.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 ZMW22.03	$0.84 LAK18,975	-23.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.52 LAK11,662	-53.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$1.19 LAK26,832	-28.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.69 LAK15,639	-0.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.66 LAK14,918	-43.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.49 LAK10,995	-41.1%
Average			-12.4%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.9% more for transportation

	Zambia	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 ZMW108.98	$5.01 LAK113K	-8.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$52.98 LAK1M	+5.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$27,872.00 LAK628M	+269.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$9.14 LAK206K	-37.3%
Average			+38.9%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Zambia	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$9.51 LAK214K	-82.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	$885.68 LAK20M	+215.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	$631.74 LAK14M	+282.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$65.79 LAK1M	+7.0%
Average			+150.7%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 37.5% more for childcare

	Zambia	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$435.49 LAK10M	+215.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$9,982.68 LAK225M	-40.0%
Average			+37.5%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$1.32 LAK29,812	+5.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$1.66 LAK37,366	-41.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$1.78 LAK40,169	-40.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$64.54 LAK1M	+18.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$3.32 LAK74,750	-45.0%
Average			-22.6%

Zambia vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 66.4% more for clothing

	Zambia	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$48.46 LAK1M	+108.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$62.95 LAK1M	+307.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$64.36 LAK1M	+42.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$46.02 LAK1M	-36.6%
Average			+66.4%

Zambia 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: Zambia vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 3.8 times more likely to have internet access in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 3.2 times bigger than Laos.

Moving from Zambia to Laos · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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