Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Nuku'alofa and Suva

For one person, living is cheaper in Suva: $927 a month against $1,019 in Nuku'alofa, rent and utilities included – about $1,100 less a year. The total is higher in Nuku'alofa despite lower rent and utilities.

49

Cost of Living Index in Nuku'alofa
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Nuku'alofa Living Index
46

Cost of Living Index in Suva
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Suva Living Index

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Nuku'alofa

🇹🇴 Tonga

$1,019

/mo nomad

Suva

🇫🇯 Fiji

$927

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Nuku'alofa and in Suva

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,019 in Nuku'alofa versus $927 in Suva.

Nuku'alofa $1,019
Suva $927

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,886 in Nuku'alofa versus $1,681 in Suva.

Nuku'alofa $1,886
Suva $1,681

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,752 in Nuku'alofa versus $2,435 in Suva.

Nuku'alofa $2,752
Suva $2,435

Living in Nuku'alofa is roughly 10% more expensive than in Suva, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in utilities.

Both cities sit below the global median: Nuku'alofa 24% lower, Suva 31% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.52 TOP 20.26

$5.72 FJD 12.81

48.95%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.8 TOP 147

$44.13 FJD 98.8

40.11%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.32 TOP 24.54

$7.76 FJD 17.37

32.99%

Cappuccino

$2.93 TOP 6.96

$2.91 FJD 6.52

0.69%

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

$2.82 TOP 6.70

$1.50 FJD 3.36

88.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.52 TOP 5.99

$0.73 FJD 1.64

245.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.38 TOP 8.02

$3.67 FJD 8.21

-7.90%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.03 TOP 11.97

$4.33 FJD 9.70

16.17%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.52 TOP 3.61

$1.28 FJD 2.86

18.75%

White Bread (500g)

$1.07 TOP 2.54

$0.56 FJD 1.26

91.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 TOP 5.02

$1.13 FJD 2.52

86.73%

Eggs

$4.97 TOP 11.81

$3.39 FJD 7.60

46.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.75 TOP 20.81

$10.04 FJD 22.48

-12.85%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.91 TOP 14.04

$6.06 FJD 13.57

-2.48%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.82 TOP 18.60

$7.82 FJD 17.50

Apples (1kg)

$2.79 TOP 6.63

$2.47 FJD 5.54

12.96%

Banana (1kg)

$2.71 TOP 6.44

$2.42 FJD 5.43

11.98%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.87 TOP 6.81

$3.48 FJD 7.79

-17.53%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.68 TOP 8.75

$3.12 FJD 6.99

17.95%

Potato (1kg)

$3.16 TOP 7.51

$1.22 FJD 2.72

159.02%

Onion (1kg)

$2.65 TOP 6.29

$1.07 FJD 2.39

147.66%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.28 TOP 5.42

$1.22 FJD 2.73

86.89%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.42 TOP 3.37

$0.73 FJD 1.64

94.52%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$10.24 TOP 24.34

$9.66 FJD 21.62

6.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.36 TOP 41.28

$7.33 FJD 16.41

136.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.14 TOP 7.45

$2.07 FJD 4.64

51.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.41 TOP 8.11

$3.43 FJD 7.69

-0.58%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.14 TOP 5.08

$0.94 FJD 2.11

127.66%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$41.65 TOP 99.0

$22.37 FJD 50.1

86.19%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.05 TOP 4.88

$0.87 FJD 1.94

135.63%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.07 TOP 4.92

$0.42 FJD 0.94

392.86%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$41.16 TOP 97.9

$8.95 FJD 20.04

359.89%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 TOP 3.50

$1.46 FJD 3.26

0.68%

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

$5,817 TOP 13.8K

$24.4K FJD 54.6K

-76.16%

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

$8,461 TOP 20.1K

$25.6K FJD 57.4K

-66.97%

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

$188 TOP 446

$46.38 FJD 104

304.51%

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

$22.27 TOP 52.9

$12.79 FJD 28.65

74.12%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$123 TOP 291

$23.98 FJD 53.7

410.88%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.62 TOP 75.2

$36.85 FJD 82.5

-14.19%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$40.72 TOP 96.8

$11.30 FJD 25.29

260.35%

Cinema Ticket

$40.75 TOP 96.9

$3.43 FJD 7.68

1088.05%

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

$157 TOP 373

$228 FJD 509

-31.06%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$248 TOP 589

$13.4K FJD 30.0K

-98.15%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$14.35 TOP 34.11

$33.19 FJD 74.3

-56.76%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$17.98 TOP 42.74

$40.53 FJD 90.8

-55.64%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$20.42 TOP 48.53

$68.9 FJD 154

-70.38%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$29.28 TOP 69.6

$61.4 FJD 138

-52.34%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$619 TOP 1,472

$891 FJD 1,995

-30.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$330 FJD 740

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$831 TOP 1,976

$2,641 FJD 5,913

-68.53%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$560 TOP 1,331

$1,001 FJD 2,241

-44.07%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$418 TOP 993

$1,320 FJD 2,956

-68.37%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$252 TOP 598

$818 FJD 1,832

-69.23%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$680 TOP 1,616

$961 FJD 2,151

-29.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.7

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

Last update for Nuku'alofa: October 3, 2026

Last update for Suva: October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Nuku'alofa

$332 32.6%

Suva

$83 8.8% 75% $249

Groceries & Markets

Nuku'alofa

$292 28.6%

Suva

$228 24.1% 21.8% $64

Eating Out

Nuku'alofa

$183 17.9%

Suva

$140 14.8% 23.4% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Nuku'alofa

$113 11.1%

Suva

$44 4.6% 61.4% $69

Getting Around

Nuku'alofa

$63 6.1%

Suva

$29 3.1% 53.5% $33

Clothing & Footwear

Nuku'alofa

$37 3.6%

Suva

$92 9.7% 149% $55

Accommodation & Living

Nuku'alofa

- * 0%

Suva

$330 34.9%

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 $619 in Nuku'alofa and $891 in Suva. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Suva pays 41% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $62.0 in Nuku'alofa vs $44.00 in Suva for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $292 vs $228 per month, with Suva cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa

🇫🇯 Suva

🕒 Local time

19:34 7:34 PM

18:34 6:34 PM

1 h behind Nuku'alofa

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

24,500 Capital

100,000 Capital

💱 Currency

Tongan Paʻanga TOP T$

Fijian Dollar FJD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 TOP = 0.421 USD

1 TOP = 0.375 EUR

1 FJD = 0.447 USD

1 FJD = 0.398 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

FJD, USD, EUR to TOP – Tongan Paʻanga Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇴 Tongan Paʻanga (T$)

Tongan Paʻanga exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 2.38 TOP (1 TOP = 0.421 USD). 1 EUR = 2.67 TOP (1 TOP = 0.375 EUR).

Fijian Dollar exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 2.24 FJD (1 FJD = 0.447 USD). 1 EUR = 2.51 FJD (1 FJD = 0.398 EUR).

USD to TOP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Nuku'alofa Suva 740 km ≈ 1 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Nuku'alofa
Suva

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

Nuku'alofa vs Suva: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Nuku'alofa and Suva differ by about 10% in total monthly costs ($1,019 vs $927 including rent). Suva is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 41% lower in Suva. 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: $619 in Nuku'alofa versus $891 in Suva. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Suva – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $62.0 in Nuku'alofa. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,019 per month in Nuku'alofa versus $927 in Suva – a 10% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $927 in Suva versus $1,019 in Nuku'alofa, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Suva but tight or insufficient in Nuku'alofa. The gap between the two cities makes Suva 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, Nuku'alofa and Suva 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 Suva gentler on the wallet – expenses run 10% less than in Nuku'alofa. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.