Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ballito and Colombo

For one person, living is cheaper in Ballito: $618 a month against $804 in Colombo, rent and utilities included – about $2,200 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Colombo outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

30

Cost of Living Index in Ballito
Learn more

Ballito Living Index
39

Cost of Living Index in Colombo
Learn more

Colombo Living Index

Jump to prices

Ballito

🇿🇦 South Africa

$618

/mo nomad

Colombo

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

$804

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Ballito and in Colombo

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Ballito and in Colombo actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $618 in Ballito versus $804 in Colombo.

Ballito $618
Colombo $804

Estimated couple costs with rent: $972 in Ballito versus $1,240 in Colombo.

Ballito $972
Colombo $1,240

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,327 in Ballito versus $1,675 in Colombo.

Ballito $1,327
Colombo $1,675

Living in Ballito costs roughly 23% less than in Colombo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Ballito 55% lower, Colombo 41% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.02 R 100

$3.74 LKR 1,243

60.96%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$39.25 R 654

$24.72 LKR 8,217

58.78%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.85 R 97.4

$7.60 LKR 2,528

-23.03%

Cappuccino

$2.66 R 44.30

$2.45 LKR 814

8.57%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.13 R 18.86

$0.68 LKR 226

66.18%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.90 R 14.96

$0.27 LKR 89.8

233.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.98 R 32.95

$2.22 LKR 739

-10.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.49 R 41.57

$3.07 LKR 1,020

-18.89%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.00 R 16.64

$1.57 LKR 520

-36.31%

White Bread (500g)

$0.93 R 15.54

$0.54 LKR 178

72.22%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.57

$0.80 LKR 266

83.75%

Eggs

$2.44 R 40.64

$1.71 LKR 568

42.69%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.21 R 120

$13.92 LKR 4,626

-48.20%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.83 R 80.6

$4.78 LKR 1,590

1.05%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.30 R 122

$7.46 LKR 2,480

-2.14%

Apples (1kg)

$1.53 R 25.44

$6.40 LKR 2,126

-76.09%

Banana (1kg)

$1.86 R 31.03

$0.85 LKR 283

118.82%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.46 R 24.25

$4.26 LKR 1,416

-65.73%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.72 R 28.63

$1.33 LKR 443

29.32%

Potato (1kg)

$1.02 R 17.07

$1.00 LKR 334

2.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.39 R 23.16

$0.81 LKR 270

71.60%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 R 20.17

$0.93 LKR 308

30.11%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 R 20.00

$0.45 LKR 151

166.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.51 R 58.4

$10.33 LKR 3,435

-66.02%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.85 R 80.9

$12.87 LKR 4,279

-62.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 R 23.57

$1.93 LKR 642

-26.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.83 R 30.57

$3.00 LKR 999

-39.00%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.18 LKR 59.3

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$5.96 LKR 1,982

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.41 R 6.82

$0.40 LKR 134

2.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.76 R 12.62

$0.35 LKR 116

117.14%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.37 R 123

$0.94 LKR 312

684.04%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.30 R 21.69

$1.32 LKR 438

-1.52%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$35.1K R 585.1K

$43.4K LKR 14.4M

-19.12%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$33.5K R 558.4K

$39.7K LKR 13.2M

-15.55%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$147 R 2,442

$58.9 LKR 19.6K

148.97%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$22.16 R 369

$4.20 LKR 1,397

427.62%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.37 R 589

$20.61 LKR 6,853

71.62%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$19.88 LKR 6,611

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$5.81 LKR 1,932

Cinema Ticket

$6.16 R 103

$4.42 LKR 1,469

39.37%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$306 R 5,105

$38.13 LKR 12.7K

703.44%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,455 R 124.2K

$1,214 LKR 403.5K

514.28%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$41.38 R 690

$17.77 LKR 5,907

132.86%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$29.89 R 498

$16.62 LKR 5,525

79.84%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$59.0 R 983

$77.8 LKR 25.9K

-24.12%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$82.4 R 1,373

$42.22 LKR 14.0K

95.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$448 R 7,458

$586 LKR 194.7K

-23.58%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$275 LKR 91.4K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,506 R 25.1K

$1,677 LKR 557.5K

-10.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$490 LKR 163.0K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,636 LKR 1.2M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,158 LKR 385.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,479 R 24.6K

$259 LKR 86.0K

471.77%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.78

12.69

-7.17%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Ballito: October 27, 2026

Last update for Colombo: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ballito

$204 33%

Colombo

$84 10.4% 59% $120

Groceries & Markets

Ballito

$181 29.3%

Colombo

$235 29.2% 29.6% $54

Eating Out

Ballito

$121 19.5%

Colombo

$103 12.8% 14.5% $17

Clothing & Footwear

Ballito

$96 15.5%

Colombo

$69 8.6% 27.4% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Ballito

$12 * 2%

Colombo

$29 3.6% 133% $16

Getting Around

Ballito

$4.2 * 0.7%

Colombo

$8.8 1.1% 110% $4.6

Accommodation & Living

Ballito

- * 0%

Colombo

$275 34.2%

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $448 in Ballito and $586 in Colombo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Ballito pays about 5.7 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $39 in Ballito vs $25 in Colombo. Groceries flip the comparison at $181 vs $235, with Ballito cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Ballito

🇱🇰 Colombo

🕒 Local time

22:26 10:26 PM

01:56 1:56 AM

3 h 30 min ahead of Ballito

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

27,718

753,000

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Sri Lankan Rupee LKR Rs

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR

1,000 LKR = 3.01 USD

1,000 LKR = 2.7 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

LKR, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 16.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6 USD). 1 EUR = 18.55 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

Sri Lankan Rupee exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 332 LKR (1,000 LKR = 3.01 USD). 1 EUR = 370 LKR (1,000 LKR = 2.7 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Ballito Colombo 6,590 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Ballito
Colombo

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Ballito vs Colombo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Ballito is about 23% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, leisure, and transport. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Ballito is about 5.7 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $448 in Ballito versus $586 in Colombo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $306 in Ballito versus $38 in Colombo. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Colombo – a meal for two runs $25 versus $39 in Ballito. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $1,000 a month, though Ballito gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.