Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$992
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$2346
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$483
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$775
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$319
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$102
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$1014
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	30	93
😀 Quality of life	85	82
🏙️ Population	381K	9M

The cost of living in Canberra is 128% more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Cities ranked 1373rd and 5636th ($2258 vs $992) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 1st in Australia and Malaysia, respectively. Check Australia vs Malaysia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 1 months in Kuala Lumpur. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st in Malaysia, while ranked 438th and 555th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/canberra/kuala-lumpur.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/kuala-lumpur" target="_blank">Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur

Prices for goods and services in Canberra and Kuala Lumpur are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$28.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$5.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$4.86
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$0.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$654
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$359
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$1155
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$572
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$38.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$25.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	4.25%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$4081
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$1476
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$0.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$14.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$10.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$2.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$2.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$14.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$5.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$3.51
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.94
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$2.52
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$1.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.5
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$19.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$3.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$4.43
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$3.93
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$3.79
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$1.84
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$49.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$5.27
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$25.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$7.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$66.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$91.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$300
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$11913

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

Cities near Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$741
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$610
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$743
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$617
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$707
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$759
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$488
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$677
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$576
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$555
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$717
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$621
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$720
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$762
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$843
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3105
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2823
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$453
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$501
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$449
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$545
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$477
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$592
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$616
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$439
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$588
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$747