Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monaco and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,207 a month against $10.3K in Monaco, rent and utilities included – about $109,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

504

Cost of Living Index in Monaco
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Monaco Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Monaco

🇲🇨 Monaco

$10.3K

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,207

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monaco and in Phuket

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $10.3K in Monaco versus $1,207 in Phuket.

Monaco $10.3K
Phuket $1,207

Estimated couple costs with rent: $11.8K in Monaco versus $2,037 in Phuket.

Monaco $11.8K
Phuket $2,037

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $13.3K in Monaco versus $2,867 in Phuket.

Monaco $13.3K
Phuket $2,867

Living in Monaco is roughly 757% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Monaco is 666% above, Phuket is 11% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.61 €17.45

$4.58 ฿153

328.17%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$170 €152

$32.48 ฿1,086

424.66%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.13 €10.79

$8.55 ฿286

41.87%

Cappuccino

$3.58 €3.18

$2.72 ฿91.0

31.62%

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

$6.22 €5.53

$0.94 ฿31.25

561.70%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 €3.92

$0.49 ฿16.39

800.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$10.05 €8.94

$2.59 ฿86.6

288.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$8.68 €7.72

$3.83 ฿128

126.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.74 €1.55

$1.74 ฿58.1

White Bread (500g)

$3.31 €2.95

$1.43 ฿47.82

131.47%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$4.16 €3.70

$1.53 ฿51.0

171.90%

Eggs

$4.93 €4.38

$2.17 ฿72.7

127.19%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$13.67 €12.16

$19.15 ฿640

-28.62%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$16.47 €14.65

$3.30 ฿110

399.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$18.29 €16.27

$11.14 ฿372

64.18%

Apples (1kg)

$3.24 €2.88

$2.95 ฿98.5

9.83%

Banana (1kg)

$2.84 €2.53

$1.68 ฿56.1

69.05%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.64 €2.35

$2.30 ฿76.8

14.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.49 €3.11

$2.13 ฿71.3

63.85%

Potato (1kg)

$2.36 €2.10

$1.53 ฿51.1

54.25%

Onion (1kg)

$2.76 €2.45

$1.36 ฿45.55

102.94%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.84 €1.64

$1.12 ฿37.44

64.29%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$8.04 €7.15

$0.55 ฿18.24

1361.82%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$14.08 €12.52

$4.26 ฿142

230.52%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.64 €5.90

$18.19 ฿608

-63.50%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.56 €1.39

$1.74 ฿58.2

-10.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.31 €3.83

$2.79 ฿93.3

54.48%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.19 €1.95

$2.22 ฿74.1

-1.35%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$23.67 €21.05

$22.06 ฿737

7.30%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.91 ฿97.3

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 €1.36

$1.01 ฿33.79

51.49%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$90.5 €80.5

$3.83 ฿128

2263.19%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.25 €2.00

$1.49 ฿49.85

51.01%

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

$47.7K €42.4K

$26.7K ฿891.6K

78.61%

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

$38.5K €34.3K

$26.7K ฿892.7K

44.30%

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

$415 €369

$99.4 ฿3,321

317.66%

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

$42.04 €37.40

$11.28 ฿377

272.70%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$64.8 €57.6

$17.36 ฿580

272.98%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$230 €205

$52.3 ฿1,747

340.50%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$53.1 €47.19

$10.85 ฿362

389.03%

Cinema Ticket

$13.57 €12.07

$7.57 ฿253

79.26%

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

$2,191 €1,949

$558 ฿18.7K

292.39%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$45.2K €40.2K

$11.5K ฿383.9K

293.74%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$151 €135

$62.9 ฿2,102

140.74%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$82.5 €73.4

$28.58 ฿955

188.77%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$168 €150

$96.1 ฿3,213

74.97%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$733 €652

$88.1 ฿2,943

732.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$9,183 €8,168

$729 ฿24.4K

1158.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$8,192 €7,287

$460 ฿15.4K

1681.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$16.0K €14.2K

$2,096 ฿70.0K

661.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$8,350 €7,427

$1,222 ฿40.8K

583.13%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$72.1K €64.1K

$3,459 ฿115.6K

1983.54%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$54.4K €48.4K

$2,489 ฿83.2K

2084.13%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$8,858 €7,879

$493 ฿16.5K

1696.54%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.25

5.57

-41.65%

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

Last update for Monaco: October 10, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monaco

$8.2K 79.2%

Phuket

$460 38.1% 94.4% $7.7K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monaco

$522 5.1%

Phuket

$128 10.6% 75.5% $394

Clothing & Footwear

Monaco

$511 4.9%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 75.7% $387

Groceries & Markets

Monaco

$473 4.6%

Phuket

$268 22.2% 43.4% $205

Eating Out

Monaco

$346 3.4%

Phuket

$121 10.1% 65% $225

Sport & Entertainment

Monaco

$257 2.5%

Phuket

$67 5.6% 73.8% $190

Getting Around

Monaco

$40 * 0.4%

Phuket

$39 3.2% 3% $1.2

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 $9,183 in Monaco and $729 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Monaco pays 1697% 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: $170 in Monaco vs $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $473 vs $268 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇨 Monaco

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

08:48 8:48 AM

13:48 1:48 PM

5 h ahead of Monaco

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

39,050 Capital

79,308

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Monaco Phuket 9,480 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Monaco
Phuket

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

Monaco vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monaco and Phuket differ by about 757% in total monthly costs ($10.3K vs $1,207 including rent). Phuket is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 1697% higher in Monaco, 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: $9,183 in Monaco versus $729 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32.00 versus $170 in Monaco. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $10.3K per month in Monaco versus $1,207 in Phuket – a 757% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,207 in Phuket versus $10.3K in Monaco, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Monaco. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket 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, Monaco and Phuket 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 Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 757% less than in Monaco. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.