Bandar Seri Begawan vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1123	$1321
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2428	$2809
🏠 One person rent	$629	$810
🏘️ Family rent	$919	$1372
🍽️ Food expenses	$330	$379
🚐 Transport expenses	$50.5	$44.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1957	$863
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	34	8
😀 Quality of life	73	64
🏙️ Population	50K	133K

The cost of living in Bandar Seri Begawan is 15% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 4938th and 4490th ($1123 vs $1321) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Brunei and Maldives, respectively. Check Brunei vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Bandar Seri Begawan compared to 0.7 months in Male. Bandar Seri Begawan ranked 1st best city to live in Brunei vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 2580th and 5278th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/bandar-seri-begawan/male.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bandar Seri Begawan vs Male infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bandar-seri-begawan/male" target="_blank">Bandar Seri Begawan vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bandar Seri Begawan vs Male

Prices for goods and services in Bandar Seri Begawan and Male are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.98	$6.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$38.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.9	$9.71
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.59	$4.89
☕ Cappuccino	$3.71	$3.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.95	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$769	$808
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$461	$624
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1196	$1454
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$687	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$75.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$69.1	$115
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$61	$73.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.9%	14.04%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3113	$2242
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2335	$1870
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.51	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24.3	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.38	$0.95
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.96	$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$1.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.33	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$6.43
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$6.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$9.51
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$2.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$2.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$1.65
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.56	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.59	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.4	$11.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.08	$2.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.1	$15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.32	$5.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.92	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.96	$3.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.18	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.5	$75.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.12	$9.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.4	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.04	$4.32
👖 Brand Jeans	$98.3	$40.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$84.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$159	$191
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11172	$3305

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bandar Seri Begawan

Distance	City	Cost of living
73 km or 45 mi	Seria	$1233
89 km or 55 mi	Kuala Belait	$1447
117 km or 73 mi	Miri	$688
174 km or 108 mi	Kota Kinabalu	$718
285 km or 177 mi	Bintulu	$588
336 km or 209 mi	Tawau	$640
351 km or 218 mi	Tarakan	$497
369 km or 229 mi	Sandakan	$583
379 km or 236 mi	Lahad Datu	$620
451 km or 280 mi	Sibu	$614
604 km or 376 mi	Bontang	$511
630 km or 392 mi	Kuching	$698
652 km or 405 mi	Samarinda	$530
684 km or 425 mi	Puerto Princesa	$605
710 km or 441 mi	Balikpapan	$556
711 km or 442 mi	Palawan	$606
796 km or 495 mi	Singkawang	$422
800 km or 497 mi	Palangka Raya	$439
823 km or 512 mi	Zamboanga	$509
828 km or 514 mi	Pontianak	$419
848 km or 527 mi	Palu	$510
918 km or 570 mi	Banjarmasin	$436
932 km or 579 mi	Banjarbaru	$427
986 km or 612 mi	Phan Rang-Thap Cham	$533
990 km or 615 mi	Mui Ne	$493
995 km or 618 mi	Pagadian	$491
1001 km or 622 mi	Phan Thiet	$480
1027 km or 638 mi	Gorontalo	$421
1030 km or 640 mi	Nha Trang	$540
1037 km or 644 mi	Kabankalan	$614
1052 km or 653 mi	Vung Tau	$503
1057 km or 657 mi	Da Lat	$563
1058 km or 657 mi	Palopo	$482
1061 km or 659 mi	Iloilo	$552
1063 km or 661 mi	Cotabato	$576
1073 km or 667 mi	Bago	$596
1092 km or 678 mi	Marawi	$441
1092 km or 679 mi	Bacolod	$599
1095 km or 680 mi	Iligan	$502
1100 km or 683 mi	Boracay	$810

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1387
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$342
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$291
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$261
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$243
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$260
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$268
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$372
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$329
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$278
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$582
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$683
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$335
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$597
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$479
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$467
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$381
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$477
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$259
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$342
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$315
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$290
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$313
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$418
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$312
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$538
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$330
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$274
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$297
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$332
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$283
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$379
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$522
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$265
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$507
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$294
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$303
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$318
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$322