Port Moresby vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Port Moresby	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$562	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1375	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$238	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$399	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$228	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$37.3	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$218	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	16	1
😀 Quality of life	50	30
🏙️ Population	317K	63.4K

The cost of living in Port Moresby is 7% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 8303rd and 8528th ($562 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd 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 6661st and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$4.05	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.9	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.25	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.86	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$1.97	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.67	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$229	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$157	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$417	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$283	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$42.1	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.6	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.4	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.25%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1376	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$854	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.43	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.6	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.61	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.81	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.44	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.51	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.42	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.89	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.2	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.97	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.1	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.53	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.25	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23.8	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.6	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.5	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.43	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$32.9	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.7	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$155	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4989	$4506

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	$546
841 km or 523 mi	Cairns	$1851
1050 km or 652 mi	Jayapura	$492
1088 km or 676 mi	Townsville	$2015
1404 km or 872 mi	Honiara	$1502
1489 km or 925 mi	Auki	$1491
1586 km or 986 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
1656 km or 1029 mi	Gladstone	$1643
1734 km or 1077 mi	Manokwari	$474
1796 km or 1116 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
1810 km or 1125 mi	Darwin	$2065
1859 km or 1155 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
2003 km or 1244 mi	Sorong	$496
2008 km or 1248 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
2026 km or 1259 mi	Caloundra	$1863
2049 km or 1273 mi	Caboolture	$1992
2071 km or 1287 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
2093 km or 1301 mi	Brisbane	$2323
2101 km or 1306 mi	Ipswich	$1825
2119 km or 1317 mi	Alice Springs	$1566
2157 km or 1341 mi	Southport	$2341
2163 km or 1344 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
2192 km or 1362 mi	Ambon	$499
2235 km or 1389 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
2273 km or 1413 mi	Luganville	$2020
2276 km or 1414 mi	Baucau	$501
2342 km or 1455 mi	Melekeok	$1174
2343 km or 1456 mi	Ngerulmud	$1173
2371 km or 1473 mi	Dili	$507
2376 km or 1477 mi	Ainaro	$500
2384 km or 1481 mi	Armidale	$1273
2397 km or 1489 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
2403 km or 1493 mi	Yaren	$788
2407 km or 1496 mi	Maliana	$499
2461 km or 1529 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2470 km or 1535 mi	Ternate	$421
2487 km or 1545 mi	Paita	$1851
2495 km or 1550 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2502 km or 1554 mi	Noumea	$1911
2512 km or 1561 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649