Cost of Living in Vanuatu
Image credit: Rolf Cosar
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Vanuatu: $3,172/capita.
Cities in Vanuatu
Income Category
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 15% higher than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Vanuatu yet. Country-level enrollment, instruction-language, and homeschool notes will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Vanuatu. We publish this section only when we can tie it to verified local samples or a clearly marked country fallback.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Vanuatu.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedLow out-of-pocket burden help, but coverage looks thinner and doctor staffing is lighter.
Public care
LimitedRelatively low patient cost-sharing help, but public coverage looks thinner and the tracked facility mix leans away from public providers.
Private care
LimitedA clearly private facility base help, but the tracked private-style network still looks thin and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
52/100
2023
Physicians
0.16/1k
2019
Hospital beds
1.73/1k
2008
Out of pocket
8%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
71.7 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
100/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
9.0/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce and few facilities expose web pages we can verify weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Vanuatu yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2010 annual wages in Vanuatu · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 120 days without a visa.
About Vanuatu
Vanuatu is a lower-middle-income island country in East Asia & Pacific, with Port-Vila as the practical center for most arrivals and services. Its main relocation appeal is cost: day-to-day living is very low compared with Western countries, so it can suit retirees or remote earners with modest budgets who do not need high-grade infrastructure. The tradeoff is real. Medical facilities are limited, serious cases may require evacuation, and internet can be slow or unreliable enough to frustrate digital work. Bislama, English, and French are official languages, which helps with basic administration for many newcomers. Entry is relatively simple for short stays, with 30-day visa-free access for most nationalities and long-term residency available. Climate planning matters too: the tropical setting includes cyclone season from November to April, and petty crime exists in Port Vila.
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Common questions about Vanuatu
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
How much does it cost to live in Vanuatu?
The cost of living in Vanuatu is about 15% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 115. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in Vanuatu?
$1 goes about 1.1x further in Vanuatu than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 1.06). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What visa do I need to move to Vanuatu?
To move to Vanuatu you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_free (120 days). Visa rules change frequently — confirm the current terms with the official immigration authority before booking flights.
Source: SortaRich Visa Database
What are the best cities to live in Vanuatu?
The best cities to live in Vanuatu are Port-Vila — those are the most-searched options among the 1 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index