Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Oslo and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,294 a month against $3,524 in Oslo, rent and utilities included – about $26,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

169

Cost of Living Index in Oslo
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Oslo Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
Learn more

Phuket Living Index

Jump to prices

Oslo

🇳🇴 Norway

$3,524

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,294

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Oslo 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 Oslo and in Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,524 in Oslo versus $1,294 in Phuket.

Oslo $3,524
Phuket $1,294

Estimated couple costs with rent: $5,087 in Oslo versus $2,204 in Phuket.

Oslo $5,087
Phuket $2,204

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $6,650 in Oslo versus $3,115 in Phuket.

Oslo $6,650
Phuket $3,115

Living in Oslo is roughly 172% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Oslo is 161% above, Phuket is 4% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$21.37 NOK 197

$4.39 ฿148

386.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$129 NOK 1,194

$32.31 ฿1,086

300.77%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$15.92 NOK 147

$8.70 ฿293

82.99%

Cappuccino

$5.88 NOK 54.2

$2.72 ฿91.6

116.18%

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

$4.45 NOK 41.07

$0.93 ฿31.28

378.49%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.48 NOK 32.05

$0.50 ฿16.79

596.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$11.61 NOK 107

$2.53 ฿85.1

358.89%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$12.67 NOK 117

$3.63 ฿122

249.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.52 NOK 23.28

$1.74 ฿58.5

44.83%

White Bread (500g)

$4.14 NOK 38.15

$1.45 ฿48.77

185.52%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$4.89 NOK 45.06

$1.50 ฿50.5

226.00%

Eggs

$6.27 NOK 57.8

$2.17 ฿73.0

188.94%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$15.45 NOK 142

$19.09 ฿642

-19.07%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$16.34 NOK 151

$3.40 ฿114

380.59%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$31.50 NOK 291

$10.90 ฿366

188.99%

Apples (1kg)

$3.34 NOK 30.84

$2.94 ฿98.9

13.61%

Banana (1kg)

$2.75 NOK 25.40

$1.69 ฿56.9

62.72%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.55 NOK 32.71

$2.19 ฿73.8

62.10%

Tomato (1kg)

$6.04 NOK 55.7

$2.12 ฿71.4

184.91%

Potato (1kg)

$2.73 NOK 25.15

$1.46 ฿49.03

86.99%

Onion (1kg)

$2.86 NOK 26.35

$1.37 ฿45.99

108.76%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.99 NOK 27.55

$1.08 ฿36.17

176.85%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.41 NOK 22.21

$0.55 ฿18.34

338.18%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$19.16 NOK 177

$4.43 ฿149

332.51%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.09 NOK 148

$18.25 ฿614

-11.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.48 NOK 32.14

$1.77 ฿59.6

96.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.32 NOK 39.82

$2.88 ฿96.8

50.00%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$5.04 NOK 46.44

$1.45 ฿48.66

247.59%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$78.8 NOK 726

$54.9 ฿1,845

43.52%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$12.43 NOK 115

$1.51 ฿50.9

723.18%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.84 NOK 16.96

$0.78 ฿26.08

135.90%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$72.0 NOK 664

$3.84 ฿129

1774.22%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.41 NOK 22.23

$1.49 ฿50.0

61.74%

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

$50.2K NOK 462.6K

$26.9K ฿903.7K

86.62%

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

$45.3K NOK 417.6K

$26.3K ฿885.7K

71.87%

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

$430 NOK 3,970

$97.8 ฿3,288

340.12%

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

$34.90 NOK 322

$11.29 ฿380

209.12%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$54.8 NOK 505

$17.19 ฿578

218.73%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.2 NOK 537

$68.3 ฿2,297

-14.83%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$29.89 NOK 276

$10.92 ฿367

173.72%

Cinema Ticket

$19.63 NOK 181

$7.43 ฿250

164.20%

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

$246 NOK 2,273

$530 ฿17.8K

-53.53%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K NOK 162.7K

$18.8K ฿631.4K

-6.05%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$103 NOK 948

$61.7 ฿2,073

66.74%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$62.6 NOK 577

$28.25 ฿950

121.63%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$134 NOK 1,238

$96.0 ฿3,228

39.82%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$159 NOK 1,465

$86.8 ฿2,919

83.01%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,117 NOK 19.5K

$721 ฿24.2K

193.67%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,651 NOK 15.2K

$509 ฿17.1K

224.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,238 NOK 29.9K

$1,950 ฿65.6K

66.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,501 NOK 23.1K

$1,397 ฿47.0K

79.08%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$12.0K NOK 110.6K

$4,192 ฿140.9K

186.02%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$7,601 NOK 70.1K

$3,298 ฿110.9K

130.44%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,955 NOK 45.7K

$492 ฿16.5K

907.93%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.94

5.57

-11.31%

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

Last update for Oslo: November 3, 2026

Last update for Phuket: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Oslo

$1.7K 46.9%

Phuket

$509 39.3% 69.2% $1.1K

Groceries & Markets

Oslo

$524 14.9%

Phuket

$267 20.6% 49.1% $258

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Oslo

$520 14.8%

Phuket

$126 9.8% 75.7% $394

Eating Out

Oslo

$404 11.5%

Phuket

$120 9.2% 70.4% $285

Clothing & Footwear

Oslo

$206 5.9%

Phuket

$123 9.5% 40.5% $84

Getting Around

Oslo

$121 3.4%

Phuket

$66 5.1% 45.2% $54

Sport & Entertainment

Oslo

$97 2.8%

Phuket

$83 6.4% 14.7% $14

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,117 in Oslo and $721 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Oslo pays about 10 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $129 in Oslo vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $524 vs $267 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇳🇴 Oslo

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

00:59 12:59 AM

06:59 6:59 AM

6 h ahead of Oslo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,098,061 Capital

79,308

💱 Currency

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 NOK = 10.84 USD

100 NOK = 9.63 EUR

100 THB = 2.97 USD

100 THB = 2.64 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to NOK – Norwegian Krone Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇳🇴 Norwegian Krone (kr)

Norwegian Krone exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 9.22 NOK (1 NOK = 0.108 USD). 1 EUR = 10.38 NOK (100 NOK = 9.63 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 33.62 THB (100 THB = 2.97 USD). 1 EUR = 37.85 THB (100 THB = 2.64 EUR).

USD to NOK in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Oslo Phuket 9,120 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Oslo
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

Oslo vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 63% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Oslo is about 10 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: $2,117 in Oslo versus $721 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $3,524 per month in Oslo versus $1,294 in Phuket – Phuket is about 63% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Phuket runs roughly 30% less than in Oslo. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $1,294 in Phuket versus $3,524 in Oslo, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Oslo. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Phuket delivers better value at $1,294 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Phuket hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Oslo and Phuket are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find Phuket gentler on the wallet – expenses run 63% less than in Oslo. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.