Cost of Living in Colombo

Summary of cost of living in Colombo, Sri Lanka:

Restaurants
Edit Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 1,000.00 Rs 500.00-2,000.00
Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 6,750.00 Rs 4,000.00-15,000.00
McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) 2,300.00 Rs 1,700.00-2,500.00
Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) 600.00 Rs 410.00-1,000.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 900.00 Rs 500.00-1,500.00
Cappuccino (regular) 704.14 Rs 450.00-1,200.00
Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) 200.34 Rs 150.00-400.00
Water (12 oz small bottle) 106.73 Rs 80.00-150.00
Markets
Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon) 1,886.03 Rs 1,703.44-2,081.98
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) 176.81 Rs 127.01-439.99
Rice (white), (1 lb) 104.30 Rs 81.65-127.01
Eggs (regular) (12) 675.06 Rs 420.00-780.00
Local Cheese (1 lb) 1,816.03 Rs 453.59-4,535.93
Chicken Fillets (1 lb) 727.73 Rs 535.24-1,133.98
Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 1,057.17 Rs 725.75-1,360.78
Apples (1 lb) 1,028.16 Rs 226.80-1,360.78
Banana (1 lb) 148.68 Rs 68.04-258.55
Oranges (1 lb) 862.19 Rs 312.98-1,360.78
Tomato (1 lb) 180.97 Rs 90.72-317.52
Potato (1 lb) 154.31 Rs 90.72-215.46
Onion (1 lb) 131.80 Rs 72.57-249.48
Lettuce (1 head) 384.80 Rs 100.00-700.00
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 170.50 Rs 100.00-250.00
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 3,500.00 Rs 2,000.00-7,000.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 533.40 Rs 400.00-750.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 742.20 Rs 400.00-1,300.00
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) 2,000.00 Rs 1,900.00-3,000.00
Transportation
Edit
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 50.00 Rs 40.00-100.00
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 1,750.00 Rs 1,000.00-2,500.00
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 120.00 Rs 100.00-200.00
Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) 160.93 Rs 160.93-289.68
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 200.00 Rs 100.00-300.00
Gasoline (1 gallon) 1,434.39 Rs 1,309.75-1,612.59
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 9,500,000.00 Rs 6,000,000.00-15,000,000.00
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) 10,854,442.63 Rs 8,000,000.00-15,000,000.00
Utilities (Monthly)
Edit
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment 14,443.48 Rs 6,000.00-30,000.00
Mobile Phone Monthly Plan with Calls and 10GB+ Data 1,552.63 Rs 888.00-2,000.00
Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 4,105.77 Rs 2,000.00-10,000.00
Sports And Leisure
Edit
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 3,840.00 Rs 2,000.00-8,250.00
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 1,990.91 Rs 700.00-3,000.00
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 1,000.00 Rs 750.00-1,600.00
Childcare
Edit
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child 8,086.96 Rs 5,000.00-30,000.00
International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child 141,058.82 Rs 60,000.00-400,000.00
Clothing And Shoes
Edit
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 7,638.00 Rs 4,000.00-15,000.00
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 5,750.00 Rs 2,500.00-12,000.00
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) 18,562.50 Rs 8,500.00-38,000.00
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes 10,195.65 Rs 5,500.00-20,000.00
Rent Per Month
Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 91,166.67 Rs 50,000.00-150,000.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 43,263.16 Rs 20,000.00-80,000.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 233,846.15 Rs 120,000.00-400,000.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 96,490.91 Rs 50,000.00-180,000.00
Buy Apartment Price
Edit
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre 49,330.41 Rs 32,515.79-72,928.28
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 40,150.78 Rs 18,580.45-89,999.25
Salaries And Financing
Edit
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 68,500.00 Rs
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate 19.76 15.00-30.00

Prices in Colombo

This city had 1465 entries in the past 12 months by 167 different contributors.
Last update: March 2024
Distribution of Expenses Using Our Statistical Model:
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7 Comments so far
Sydney Myer on Mar 26, 2023:
If anyone knows, what is the average monthly costs for food in Colombo for one person? These are good breakdowns but I am still not sure quite what I could expect to spend... I am currently estimating around $40-60?
ALZ on Mar 13, 2023:
Hi, is there black market for exchange of currency in Sri Lanka ?
Alex on Nov 09, 2022:
I read comments and decided to write.

Sri Lanka people are very friendly. They are caring. The island has a tourist mindset, so people welcome you everywhere you go.

Price of food from the grocery stores are tricky. If you go to vendors it is 50% less than the big credit card available grocery stores.

Rent is variable. If you are demanding luxury western standards you can pay any price. But if you want 3 bedroom bath out of the City area expect to pay 50 to 150k a month.

Food expense at is max at 9 dollars in regular place for 2 people. If you want to go to five star restaurants expect to pay about 50% less than Applebee prices in the US.

Transport by bus and train are very cheap compared to US prices.
If you want car, the cost depends on type of car and distance. Daily car expenses can be 50 US dollars for 100 km with driver.

Clothing, other expenses are 80% less than Western Europe or the United States.

Quality of life is much better.

Now the bad
Cost of healthcare is about the same as the west..
Public health is socialism based so it is heavily inefficient and underfunded.
Private hospitals are the best for minor and moderate procedure. But for advanced health ICUs gov hospitals are better.

Regular physicians are pretty good. They are very busy.
Medicine is cheaper than the US or Europe. But you need to know what you are getting. Generic meds have different quality.

BTW the country has wonderful women and men who are eligible bachelors. You can have good company.
Alex on Jul 01, 2022:
Sri lanka is way cheaper than most of the Asian countries
Michael on Jun 09, 2022:
Stayed in Sri Lanka in 2009 for a month and it was an incredible experience. this was in May when the war ended. It was amazing how friendly the people were. An American Veteran came with me and it was his first visit to Sri Lanka. He remembers it with fond memories. Colombo is hot in May but the ocean breeze makes it pleasant especially at night walking in Galle Face Green. Neither my friend nor I could find one person who was unpleasant.

Everyone we met were very friendly. Riding the tut tut was exhilerating to say the least. I am not rich and neither is my firend and the cost of that entire month was so cheap. It included a chauffeur driven car. Every hotel we stayed in had accommodations for the chauffeur. Outside of one train trip to the hill stations and some trips in tut tut we used the chauffeur driven for everything else. in total for one month the cost was $800.00. Wish we had more time.
Anonymous on Feb 23, 2021:
Colombo like the rest of Sri Lanka isn't a place to visit or live for that matter. Streets full of garbage rats the size of cats running around everywhere even inside of restaurants.High heat and humidity year round smells like fresh horseshit steaming into the air that's Sri Lanka. Women can be rented for $2 usd per hour but they need an acid dip just to get the smell off of them if some are into that sort of thing but not I.
Anonymous on Feb 15, 2021:
How ever is saying about something are full of crap it very cheap to live in Sri Lanka but living in Colombo could be very expensive compared to Melbourne like dabble the price and if you're eating in luxury restaurants it's nearly dabble the price again. If you live 30mint to 1hour away it's very cheap like $80 Australia dollars a month or cheaper or more you can get it's up to where people want to be. Don't listen to some of these idiotic people who are trying to rip people off" you can get any price you want depending where you want to live.