Port Moresby vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Port Moresby	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$566	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1365	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$245	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$413	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$225	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$36.9	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$214	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	17	1
😀 Quality of life	51	25
🏙️ Population	317K	63.4K

The cost of living in Port Moresby is 6% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 8120th and 8428th ($566 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Papua New Guinea and Kiribati, respectively. Check Papua New Guinea vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Port Moresby compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Port Moresby ranked 1st best city to live in Papua New Guinea vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 6522nd and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Port Moresby vs South Tarawa infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/port-moresby/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Port Moresby vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/port-moresby/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Port Moresby vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Port Moresby vs South Tarawa

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

	Port Moresby	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.01	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.4	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$1.91	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.65	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$239	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$164	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$423	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$300	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.5	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.9	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.7	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.16%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1469	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$954	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.46	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.1	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.25	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.8	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.74	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.39	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.44	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.29	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.93	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.44	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.94	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.98	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.04	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.53	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.29	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.3	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.64	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.3	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.09	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$33.4	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$68.5	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$127	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4033	$3644

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Port Moresby

Distance	City	Cost of living
306 km or 190 mi	Lae	$548
841 km or 523 mi	Cairns	$1513
1050 km or 652 mi	Jayapura	$507
1088 km or 676 mi	Townsville	$1683
1404 km or 872 mi	Honiara	$1419
1489 km or 925 mi	Auki	$1417
1586 km or 986 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
1656 km or 1029 mi	Gladstone	$1503
1734 km or 1077 mi	Manokwari	$496
1796 km or 1116 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
1810 km or 1125 mi	Darwin	$1647
1859 km or 1155 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
2003 km or 1244 mi	Sorong	$500
2008 km or 1248 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
2026 km or 1259 mi	Caloundra	$1710
2049 km or 1273 mi	Caboolture	$1798
2071 km or 1287 mi	Toowoomba	$1639
2093 km or 1301 mi	Brisbane	$2065
2101 km or 1306 mi	Ipswich	$1662
2119 km or 1317 mi	Alice Springs	$1455
2157 km or 1341 mi	Southport	$2140
2163 km or 1344 mi	Gold Coast	$2297
2192 km or 1362 mi	Ambon	$502
2235 km or 1389 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
2273 km or 1413 mi	Luganville	$1882
2276 km or 1414 mi	Baucau	$513
2342 km or 1455 mi	Melekeok	$1176
2343 km or 1456 mi	Ngerulmud	$1175
2371 km or 1473 mi	Dili	$520
2376 km or 1477 mi	Ainaro	$513
2384 km or 1481 mi	Armidale	$1184
2397 km or 1489 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
2403 km or 1493 mi	Yaren	$733
2407 km or 1496 mi	Maliana	$512
2461 km or 1529 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2470 km or 1535 mi	Ternate	$447
2487 km or 1545 mi	Paita	$1807
2495 km or 1550 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2502 km or 1554 mi	Noumea	$1878
2512 km or 1561 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637