Dili vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dili	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$522	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1248	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$224	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$369	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$218	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$27.8	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$120	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	11	1
😀 Quality of life	33	28
🏙️ Population	222K	63.4K

The cost of living in Dili is 3% less expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 8580th and 8474th ($522 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in East Timor and Kiribati, respectively. Check East Timor vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Dili compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Dili ranked 1st best city to live in East Timor vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 8642nd and 8872nd 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/dili/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Dili vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/dili/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Dili vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Dili vs South Tarawa

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

	Dili	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.62	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.1	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.94	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$1.93	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.56	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$216	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$143	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$253	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.8	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.6	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.7	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.67%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1360	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$823	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$13.2	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.69	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.65	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.1	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.49	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.9	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.16	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.04	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.92	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.69	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.95	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.25	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23.7	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.27	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.8	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.81	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$28.5	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$62.1	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$107	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3757	$4200

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dili

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ainaro	$513
62 km or 38 mi	Maliana	$514
97 km or 60 mi	Baucau	$512
282 km or 176 mi	Kupang	$527
473 km or 294 mi	Baubau	$491
607 km or 377 mi	Kendari	$498
611 km or 380 mi	Ambon	$506
719 km or 447 mi	Darwin	$1861
754 km or 469 mi	Bima	$593
779 km or 484 mi	Makassar	$510
829 km or 515 mi	Parepare	$493
857 km or 533 mi	Palopo	$509
1040 km or 646 mi	Mataram	$409
1049 km or 652 mi	Gorontalo	$437
1058 km or 657 mi	Ternate	$437
1061 km or 660 mi	Palu	$537
1061 km or 660 mi	Sorong	$506
1113 km or 692 mi	Bitung	$440
1121 km or 696 mi	Manado	$432
1134 km or 705 mi	Ubud	$822
1139 km or 708 mi	Denpasar	$496
1163 km or 722 mi	Bali	$1175
1265 km or 786 mi	Balikpapan	$588
1273 km or 791 mi	Manokwari	$494
1293 km or 804 mi	Samarinda	$560
1317 km or 818 mi	Bontang	$537
1324 km or 823 mi	Banjarbaru	$449
1347 km or 837 mi	Banjarmasin	$461
1363 km or 847 mi	Probolinggo	$476
1398 km or 869 mi	Pasuruan	$459
1421 km or 883 mi	Surabaya	$549
1427 km or 887 mi	Malang	$379
1438 km or 894 mi	Batu	$408
1452 km or 902 mi	Mojokerto	$419
1470 km or 913 mi	Palangka Raya	$464
1478 km or 918 mi	Blitar	$439
1495 km or 929 mi	Kediri	$453
1550 km or 963 mi	Madiun	$445
1586 km or 985 mi	Tarakan	$520
1628 km or 1012 mi	Surakarta	$405

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610