Moving to Indonesia from Sri Lanka
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Sri Lanka to Indonesia — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Sri Lanka to Indonesia, you would find that Indonesia is 15.6% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall. A LKR25,000,000 salary in Sri Lanka would need to be roughly IDR1,580,000,000 in Indonesia to maintain the same lifestyle, and you’d need to navigate life in Indonesian.
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The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 34.0% less
Groceries
pay 5.4% more
Transportation
pay 2.5% less
Housing
pay 16.8% more
Childcare
pay 6.1 times more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.9% less
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Indonesia?
What does your salary buy?
LKR25,000,000 → IDR1,580,000,000
To maintain the same standard of living in Indonesia
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Key Indicator Comparison
How Sri Lanka and Indonesia stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
per 100,000 people per year
per 100,000 people per year
Indonesia performs significantly better than Sri Lanka across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
annual government + private spending per person
affects wait times and access to care
WHO index from 0–100 measuring essential service access
share of adults with obesity
per 100,000 people — a proxy for mental health support
Sri Lanka generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Indonesia leads in healthcare spending per person.
What about the environment?
deaths attributable to air pollution per 100k people
tonnes of CO₂ emitted per person per year
Sri Lanka performs better than Indonesia across all environment metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
fixed broadband subscriptions — key for remote work
higher means greater strain on freshwater supply
annual consumption — reflects grid capacity
share of households with internet
Indonesia generally does better on infrastructure, though Sri Lanka leads in broadband per 100 people.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
the highest marginal rate on personal income
share of people below the poverty line
Indonesia generally does better on employment & economy, though Sri Lanka leads in top income tax rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
deaths per 1,000 live births — lower is better
government spending on education as % of GDP
percentage of adults who can read and write
Sri Lanka generally does better on family life, though Indonesia leads in literacy rate.
Sources: World Bank (2019–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), Sri Lanka Inland Revenue Department (2016), Direktorat Jenderal Pajak (2016). How we calculate this
Weather in Indonesia vs Sri Lanka
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Colombo | Jakarta |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 88°/73°F (31°/23°C) | 87°/76°F (31°/25°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 88°/77°F (31°/25°C) | 90°/77°F (32°/25°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 86°/77°F (30°/25°C) | 90°/77°F (32°/25°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 86°/74°F (30°/23°C) | 90°/77°F (32°/25°C) |
View all months
| Month | Colombo | Jakarta |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 88°/72°F (30.9°/22.3°C) | 86°/76°F (29.9°/24.2°C) |
| Feb | 88°/73°F (31.2°/22.6°C) | 87°/76°F (30.3°/24.3°C) |
| Mar | 89°/75°F (31.7°/23.7°C) | 89°/77°F (31.5°/25.2°C) |
| Apr | 89°/76°F (31.8°/24.6°C) | 90°/77°F (32.5°/25.1°C) |
| May | 88°/78°F (31.1°/25.5°C) | 90°/78°F (32.5°/25.4°C) |
| Jun | 87°/78°F (30.4°/25.5°C) | 89°/77°F (31.4°/24.8°C) |
| Jul | 86°/77°F (30.0°/25.2°C) | 90°/77°F (32.3°/25.1°C) |
| Aug | 86°/77°F (30.0°/25.1°C) | 90°/77°F (32.0°/24.9°C) |
| Sep | 86°/77°F (30.2°/24.8°C) | 91°/78°F (33.0°/25.5°C) |
| Oct | 86°/75°F (30.0°/24.0°C) | 91°/78°F (32.7°/25.5°C) |
| Nov | 86°/74°F (30.1°/23.2°C) | 88°/77°F (31.3°/24.9°C) |
| Dec | 87°/73°F (30.3°/22.8°C) | 90°/77°F (32.0°/24.9°C) |
Data:
National Meteorological Centre,
Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG)
Can you move from Sri Lanka to Indonesia?
Short-stay tourist visa rules between Sri Lanka and Indonesia. To live, work, or study long-term in Indonesia, you'll need a separate residence or work visa — check Indonesia's immigration authority.
Sri Lanka passport holder visiting Indonesia
Visa Online (e-Visa)
Indonesia passport holder visiting Sri Lanka
Electronic Travel AuthorisationData: Henley Passport Index. Check with the destination country's embassy for the most current requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Indonesia than Sri Lanka?
Day-to-day costs in Indonesia run about 16% higher than Sri Lanka on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Indonesia?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a LKR25,000,000 comparable salary, that's around IDR395,000,000 in Indonesia for everyday spending, before flights, shipping, a rental deposit, and visa fees.
Can I work remotely from Indonesia?
With 4.9 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Indonesia can support video calls in major cities. The hard part is paperwork — visa category, employer policy on overseas staff, and tax residency in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Is Indonesia safe for expats?
Indonesia performs significantly better than Sri Lanka across all safety metrics. The homicide rate in Indonesia is 0.3 per 100,000 people, compared to 3.3 in Sri Lanka.
How is healthcare in Indonesia compared to Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Indonesia leads in healthcare spending per person. There are 5.2 doctors per 10,000 people in Indonesia, compared to 11.4 in Sri Lanka. Indonesia scores 55 on the WHO universal health coverage index (Sri Lanka: 67).
What's the weather like in Indonesia compared to Sri Lanka?
The average high temperature in Jakarta is 89°F, compared to 87°F in Colombo. Jakarta receives around 65.2 in of rainfall per year, while Colombo gets 99.4 in.
What language do they speak in Indonesia?
The official language in Indonesia is Indonesian. In Sri Lanka, the official languages are Sinhala and Tamil.
