Kuala Lumpur vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$393	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$550
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	93	5
😀 Quality of life	77	34
🏙️ Population	1.98M	115K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 92% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 6403rd and 8915th ($810 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Malaysia and Bhutan, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 811th and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Thimphu

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$666

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$645
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$532
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$670
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$604
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$669
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$682
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$543
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$628
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$529
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$695
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$679
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$565
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$619
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$620
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$759
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3059
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2788
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$481
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$539
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$470
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$490
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$506
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$536
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$560
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$461
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$570
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$719

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300