South Tarawa vs Suva - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	South Tarawa	Suva
🚶 Cost of living one person	$538	$879
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1303	$2114
🏠 One person rent	$233	$463
🏘️ Family rent	$392	$807
🍽️ Food expenses	$226	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$22.7	$24
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$164	$579
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	1	26
😀 Quality of life	28	62
🏙️ Population	63.4K	88.3K

The cost of living in South Tarawa is 39% less expensive than in Suva. Cities ranked 8474th and 6452nd ($538 vs $879) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Kiribati and Fiji, respectively. Check Kiribati vs Fiji comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in South Tarawa compared to 0.7 months in Suva. South Tarawa ranked 1st best city to live in Kiribati vs Suva ranked 1st in Fiji, while ranked 8872nd and 5727th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in South Tarawa vs Suva

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

	South Tarawa	Suva
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4	$6.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.3	$38.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.15	$7.21
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$3.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.93	$2.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.63	$1.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$226	$565
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$151	$358
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$412	$1021
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$646
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41	$39
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.8	$60.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.1	$25
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.43%	7.72%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1374	$1360
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$845	$855
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$15.9	$23.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.47	$4.98
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.31
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.76	$0.64
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.73	$3.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.22	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.59	$7.14
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.22	$7.82
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$3.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$3.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.28
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$2.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8	$8.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.46	$2.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.98	$8.21
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.96	$5.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.05	$3.16
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.6	$1.59
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.1	$28.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.49	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19.1	$14.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.22	$4.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$31.4	$29.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$65.8	$73.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$131	$234
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4200	$13758

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Suva

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.4 mi	Nasinu	$857
114 km or 71 mi	Nadi	$1039
118 km or 73 mi	Lautoka	$633
745 km or 463 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
755 km or 469 mi	Mua	$1033
1072 km or 666 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1073 km or 667 mi	Funafuti	$718
1073 km or 667 mi	Port Vila	$2068
1112 km or 691 mi	Manase	$790
1145 km or 711 mi	Apia	$791
1233 km or 766 mi	Luganville	$2062
1328 km or 825 mi	Dumbea	$1865
1332 km or 827 mi	Noumea	$1928
1335 km or 830 mi	Paita	$1865
1997 km or 1241 mi	Whangarei	$1261
2086 km or 1296 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
2112 km or 1312 mi	Auckland	$2156
2121 km or 1318 mi	Waitakere	$1778
2125 km or 1320 mi	Manukau	$1646
2148 km or 1335 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
2180 km or 1355 mi	Auki	$1422
2185 km or 1358 mi	Tauranga	$1740
2206 km or 1371 mi	Hamilton	$1474
2216 km or 1377 mi	Honiara	$1422
2234 km or 1388 mi	Rotorua	$1393
2253 km or 1400 mi	South Tarawa	$538
2283 km or 1419 mi	Gisborne	$1696
2297 km or 1427 mi	Taupo	$1523
2306 km or 1433 mi	Avarua	$1066
2325 km or 1445 mi	Yaren	$783
2364 km or 1469 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
2379 km or 1478 mi	Napier	$1605
2397 km or 1490 mi	Hastings	$1518
2446 km or 1520 mi	Whanganui	$1528
2486 km or 1545 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
2553 km or 1586 mi	Masterton	$1359
2554 km or 1587 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
2578 km or 1602 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
2580 km or 1603 mi	Porirua	$1788
2589 km or 1608 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920