Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tromso and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $3,272 in Tromso, rent and utilities included – about $23,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

158

Cost of Living Index in Tromso
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Tromso Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Tromso

🇳🇴 Norway

$3,272

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,272 in Tromso versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Tromso $3,272
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,928 in Tromso versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Tromso $4,928
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $6,584 in Tromso versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Tromso $6,584
Phuket $3,154

Living in Tromso is roughly 156% more expensive than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Tromso is 140% above, Phuket is 6% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$34.84 NOK 324

$4.47 ฿151

679.42%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$107 NOK 991

$32.41 ฿1,094

229.03%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$16.13 NOK 150

$8.81 ฿297

83.09%

Cappuccino

$6.87 NOK 63.8

$2.83 ฿95.5

142.76%

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

$5.02 NOK 46.63

$0.87 ฿29.43

477.01%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.80 NOK 35.27

$0.49 ฿16.67

675.51%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$12.79 NOK 119

$2.56 ฿86.4

399.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$13.94 NOK 130

$3.68 ฿124

278.80%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.61 NOK 24.24

$1.66 ฿56.0

57.23%

White Bread (500g)

$3.47 NOK 32.28

$1.46 ฿49.35

137.67%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.95 NOK 36.73

$1.50 ฿50.6

163.33%

Eggs

$5.42 NOK 50.3

$2.09 ฿70.5

159.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.93 NOK 111

$19.07 ฿644

-37.44%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$15.18 NOK 141

$3.30 ฿111

360.00%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$42.51 NOK 395

$10.91 ฿368

289.64%

Apples (1kg)

$4.23 NOK 39.26

$2.93 ฿99.0

44.37%

Banana (1kg)

$3.03 NOK 28.17

$1.69 ฿57.1

79.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$5.42 NOK 50.4

$2.25 ฿75.8

140.89%

Tomato (1kg)

$6.08 NOK 56.5

$2.08 ฿70.1

192.31%

Potato (1kg)

$3.53 NOK 32.79

$1.51 ฿51.0

133.77%

Onion (1kg)

$4.89 NOK 45.43

$1.38 ฿46.56

254.35%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.97 NOK 27.61

$1.07 ฿35.99

177.57%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.14 NOK 19.85

$0.52 ฿17.52

311.54%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$16.48 NOK 153

$4.20 ฿142

292.38%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.78 NOK 165

$18.79 ฿634

-5.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$4.04 NOK 37.56

$1.82 ฿61.5

121.98%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.95 NOK 45.97

$2.84 ฿95.9

74.30%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$5.07 NOK 47.12

$1.45 ฿49.03

249.66%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$67.8 NOK 630

$56.7 ฿1,913

19.61%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$16.35 NOK 152

$3.02 ฿102

441.39%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.16 NOK 20.08

$1.02 ฿34.36

111.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$57.4 NOK 533

$3.69 ฿125

1454.20%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.38 NOK 22.08

$1.47 ฿49.81

61.90%

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

$50.0K NOK 464.6K

$26.8K ฿904.3K

86.77%

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

$44.5K NOK 413.0K

$26.7K ฿901.3K

66.54%

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

$266 NOK 2,467

$96.4 ฿3,254

175.61%

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

$50.7 NOK 471

$11.26 ฿380

350.62%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$85.0 NOK 789

$16.85 ฿569

404.21%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.89 NOK 454

$67.2 ฿2,270

-27.28%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$48.46 NOK 450

$10.73 ฿362

351.63%

Cinema Ticket

$17.45 NOK 162

$7.50 ฿253

132.67%

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

$324 NOK 3,013

$476 ฿16.1K

-31.87%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,850 NOK 72.9K

$11.3K ฿380.4K

-30.30%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.8 NOK 639

$62.4 ฿2,106

10.33%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.13 NOK 326

$28.41 ฿959

23.65%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$153 NOK 1,423

$94.3 ฿3,184

62.46%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$166 NOK 1,539

$85.8 ฿2,898

93.05%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,780 NOK 16.5K

$716 ฿24.2K

148.68%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,392 NOK 12.9K

$491 ฿16.6K

183.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,215 NOK 29.9K

$1,927 ฿65.1K

66.83%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,341 NOK 21.8K

$1,431 ฿48.3K

63.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$8,342 NOK 77.5K

$4,175 ฿141.0K

99.79%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,634 NOK 52.3K

$3,045 ฿102.8K

85.07%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,302 NOK 40.0K

$502 ฿17.0K

756.50%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.01

5.57

-10.05%

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

Last update for Tromso: October 26, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tromso

$1.4K 42.6%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 64.7% $901

Groceries & Markets

Tromso

$553 16.9%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 51.8% $286

Eating Out

Tromso

$537 16.4%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 77.3% $415

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tromso

$401 12.3%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 69% $277

Clothing & Footwear

Tromso

$190 5.8%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 35.9% $68

Getting Around

Tromso

$115 3.5%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 38.7% $45

Sport & Entertainment

Tromso

$84 2.6%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 1.9% $1.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,780 in Tromso and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tromso pays about 8.6 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $107 in Tromso vs $32 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $553 vs $266 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇳🇴 Tromso

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

02:01 2:01 AM

08:01 8:01 AM

6 h ahead of Tromso

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

78,908

79,308

💱 Currency

Norwegian Krone NOK kr

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 NOK = 10.76 USD

100 NOK = 9.67 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 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 October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 9.29 NOK (1 NOK = 0.108 USD). 1 EUR = 10.34 NOK (100 NOK = 9.67 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 33.77 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.59 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to NOK in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Tromso Phuket 8,780 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Tromso
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

Tromso vs Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 61% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and utilities. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Tromso is about 8.6 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: $1,780 in Tromso versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $324 in Tromso versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 108% higher in Tromso. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $3,272 in Tromso, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Tromso. 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, Tromso 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 61% less than in Tromso. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.