Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dhaka and Kuala Belait

For one person, living is cheaper in Dhaka: $426 a month against $1,699 in Kuala Belait, rent and utilities included – about $15,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

21

Cost of Living Index in Dhaka
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Dhaka Living Index
84

Cost of Living Index in Kuala Belait
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Kuala Belait Living Index

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Dhaka

🇧🇩 Bangladesh

$426

/mo nomad

Kuala Belait

🇧🇳 Brunei

$1,699

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Dhaka and in Kuala Belait

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $426 in Dhaka versus $1,699 in Kuala Belait.

Dhaka $426
Kuala Belait $1,699

Estimated couple costs with rent: $735 in Dhaka versus $2,569 in Kuala Belait.

Dhaka $735
Kuala Belait $2,569

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,043 in Dhaka versus $3,438 in Kuala Belait.

Dhaka $1,043
Kuala Belait $3,438

Living in Dhaka costs roughly 75% less than in Kuala Belait, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Dhaka is 68% below, Kuala Belait is 27% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.49 ৳305

$7.91 BND 10.12

-68.52%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$13.06 ৳1,604

$46.43 BND 59.4

-71.87%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.83 ৳594

$7.85 BND 10.05

-38.47%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.93 ৳606

$2.01 BND 2.57

145.27%

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.10 ৳504

$2.39 BND 3.06

71.55%

Cappuccino

$2.34 ৳287

$4.41 BND 5.64

-46.94%

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

$0.30 ৳37.38

$0.89 BND 1.15

-66.29%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.16 ৳19.96

$0.50 BND 0.64

-68.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.80 ৳98.1

$1.84 BND 2.36

-56.52%

White Bread (500g)

$0.65 ৳79.3

$2.43 BND 3.12

-73.25%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.71 ৳87.2

$2.25 BND 2.88

-68.44%

Eggs

$1.21 ৳149

$2.58 BND 3.31

-53.10%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.67 ৳1,065

$18.59 BND 23.80

-53.36%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.21 ৳395

$9.85 BND 12.61

-67.41%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$6.70 ৳823

$24.88 BND 31.85

-73.07%

Apples (1kg)

$2.73 ৳335

$4.69 BND 6.00

-41.79%

Banana (1kg)

$0.88 ৳108

$2.17 BND 2.78

-59.45%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.37 ৳291

$4.83 BND 6.18

-50.93%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.65 ৳79.5

$2.47 BND 3.17

-73.68%

Potato (1kg)

$0.24 ৳29.19

$1.71 BND 2.19

-85.96%

Onion (1kg)

$0.49 ৳60.6

$2.90 BND 3.71

-83.10%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.32 ৳38.87

$5.54 BND 7.09

-94.22%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.30 ৳37.30

$0.93 BND 1.19

-67.74%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$12.07 ৳1,483

$11.59 BND 14.84

4.14%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$5.51 ৳677

$5.99 BND 7.67

-8.01%

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.66 ৳818

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.23 ৳396

$7.86 BND 10.07

-58.91%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.42 ৳52.1

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$22.54 ৳2,769

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.19 ৳147

$3.99 BND 5.11

-70.18%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.40 ৳48.58

$3.43 BND 4.39

-88.34%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.35 ৳411

$11.59 BND 14.84

-71.10%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.15 ৳141

$0.35 BND 0.45

228.57%

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

$30.3K ৳3.7M

$30.7K BND 39.3K

-1.29%

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

$33.0K ৳4.1M

$27.2K BND 34.9K

21.24%

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

$46.32 ৳5,690

$38.45 BND 49.23

20.47%

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

$4.33 ৳531

$21.58 BND 27.63

-79.94%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$10.63 ৳1,306

$64.4 BND 82.4

-83.48%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$16.37 ৳2,011

$95.9 BND 123

-82.93%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.14 ৳1,982

$27.34 BND 35.00

-40.97%

Cinema Ticket

$4.13 ৳508

$5.51 BND 7.05

-25.05%

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

$90.7 ৳11.1K

$217 BND 278

-58.29%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,649 ৳325.4K

$9,398 BND 12.0K

-71.82%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$16.48 ৳2,024

$74.8 BND 95.8

-77.98%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$21.00 ৳2,579

$101 BND 129

-79.13%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$50.3 ৳6,173

$153 BND 196

-67.14%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$36.46 ৳4,478

$71.4 BND 91.4

-48.95%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$152 ৳18.6K

$753 BND 964

-79.86%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$73.6 ৳9,041

$771 BND 987

-90.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$436 ৳53.5K

$1,193 BND 1,527

-63.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$214 ৳26.3K

$1,177 BND 1,506

-81.83%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,622 ৳199.2K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$761 ৳93.5K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$249 ৳30.6K

$3,398 BND 4,350

-92.67%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.48

3.88

170.10%

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

Last update for Dhaka: October 4, 2026

Last update for Kuala Belait: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Dhaka

$123 28.5%

Kuala Belait

$354 20.8% 189% $232

Accommodation & Living

Dhaka

$74 17.1%

Kuala Belait

$771 45.3% 948% $697

Eating Out

Dhaka

$64 15%

Kuala Belait

$145 8.5% 126% $81

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dhaka

$61 14.3%

Kuala Belait

$124 7.3% 103% $63

Clothing & Footwear

Dhaka

$56 13%

Kuala Belait

$180 10.6% 222% $124

Getting Around

Dhaka

$27 6.4%

Kuala Belait

$21 * 1.2% 22.9% $6.3

Sport & Entertainment

Dhaka

$25 5.7%

Kuala Belait

$107 6.3% 334% $82

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 $152 in Dhaka and $753 in Kuala Belait. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kuala Belait pays 1265% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $13.00 in Dhaka vs $46.00 in Kuala Belait for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $123 vs $354 per month, with Dhaka cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇩 Dhaka

🇧🇳 Kuala Belait

🕒 Local time

18:12 6:12 PM

20:12 8:12 PM

2 h ahead of Dhaka

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

21,741,000 Capital

31,178

💱 Currency

Bangladeshi Taka BDT ৳

Brunei Dollar BND $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 BDT = 8.14 USD

1,000 BDT = 7.27 EUR

1 BND = 0.781 USD

1 BND = 0.697 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BND, USD, EUR to BDT – Bangladeshi Taka Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇧🇩 Bangladeshi Taka (৳)

Bangladeshi Taka exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 123 BDT (1,000 BDT = 8.14 USD). 1 EUR = 138 BDT (1,000 BDT = 7.27 EUR).

Brunei Dollar exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 1.28 BND (1 BND = 0.781 USD). 1 EUR = 1.43 BND (1 BND = 0.697 EUR).

USD to BDT in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Dhaka Kuala Belait 3,320 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Dhaka
Kuala Belait

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

Dhaka vs Kuala Belait: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Dhaka is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 299% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 1265% lower in Kuala Belait. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $152 in Dhaka versus $753 in Kuala Belait. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $90.7 in Dhaka versus $217 in Kuala Belait. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Dhaka – a meal for two runs $13.00 versus $46.00 in Kuala Belait. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $426 in Dhaka versus $1,699 in Kuala Belait, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Dhaka but tight or insufficient in Kuala Belait. The gap between the two cities makes Dhaka the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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.

Safety-wise, Dhaka and Kuala Belait are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Dhaka gentler on the wallet – expenses run 299% less than in Kuala Belait. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.