Cost of living in Brunei

Hello,

I'll try feed the post about the cost of living for Brunei Darussalam.

The local currency is the Brunei dollar. Parity is 1.95 approximately (it take 2 in order to facilitate calculations)

2 Euros = 1 dollar

Accomodation :

A tenancy empty for a small house cost approximately 1000 up to 1500 dollars (500 up to 700 euros).  fully Furnished rental cost approximately 1500 to 2000 dollars for a house).  cost for an apartment is between 600 to 1300 Dollar depending on the standing and the number of rooms.

>public transport?

Taxis are fairly expensive and don't use any automatic taxi fair counter. The average cost for lift to the city is 10 up 20 dollars. transportation by boat for visiting the water village will cost approximately $ 10 for an hour about visit; City bus cost averaged 2 to 8 $(1 a 4 euros) according to the distance

>food? (per month, do you an idea of how it you cost?)

Products are all imported and there is not really local products.
Concerning the alimentattion has indeed prices vary the simple to the triple based of the provenance. if you expect to buy French or European type of food it is not really cost effective. local or Asian food, I would say that prices are slightly lower than those encountered in France.
For example a camembert (the most famous French cheese) will cost between 15 and 20 dollars (7 to 10 euros).

>Health care costs. Is it necessary to have a private in Brunei health insurance?
Health costs are free a Brunei with regard to government services. A consultation in a private for a small influenza: 10 to 30 euros.

I recommend to subscribe for a private healthcare system from your country.

>Education costs (if they are not free)
Public school education is free.

For private schools, there are two private schools and the monthly fees are 250 to 500 euros.

There are some private primary schools with monthly fees range ranging from 100 to 200 euros .

The education system is the UK Curriculum

>Energy? (price of electricity, gas)

Gasoline (litre): 25 cents euros
Diesel (liter): 7 cents euros
Electricity, water and gas are less expensive than in France and you can expect 100 euros for water, eletricité and gas every two months.

>Regular bills (phone, mobile phone, internet, subscription television...)

Television satellite package: 40 euros
mobile telephone: 12 has 50 euros
Internet: 20 up to 40 euros with relatively low rates of 512k up to 1MBits.


>How cost a meal in a traditional restaurant in Brunei?
Meals in a traditional or Asian restaurant: 5 to 10 euros

>How to cost a beer or coffee in a bar?
Unfortunately no beer and a coffee cost approximately 50 cents

>How costs a cinema place?

3 euros during week day and 4 euros during the weekend.


Didier

Groceries (for an expat) seem to be very expensive.  They have many brands you are familiar with at SupaSave, which is nice.  E.g. Pauls 2L full cream milk (imported from Australia) $8.80!!!!

how much cost to live in

rent for one month  flat 2bed room

also hotel rent for one day  3star hotel

Expat.com wrote:

Hi everybody,

It would be very useful to talk about the cost of living in Brunei.

Don't forget to mention where in Brunei you are living.

How much does it cost to live in Brunei?

> accommodation prices-moderate,slightly over priced

> public transportation fares (tube, bus etc ...)cheap BND$2.00 per trip arounf town

> food prices(per month, how much does it cost you?)

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance)

> eduction prices (if you need to pay)

> energy prices (oil, electricity)BND$0.35cents per liter diesel,BND$0.55cents per liter of petrol

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone)

> prices of a good menu in a traditional restaurant -cheap is local food,over priced if int.franchises

> prices of a beer and or a coffee in a regular pub,alcohol forbidden to sell in Brunei

> price of the cinema-BND$7.00

Do not hesitate to add items to this list!
electrical goods over priced! market trying to capture locals dependent on credit purchases!

cars new & 2nd hand are over priced to balance back the cheap fuel prices,monopolised busines for int.brands

internet & phone over priced, monopolised business



Thanks in advance for your participation!!

MaddyM wrote:

Groceries (for an expat) seem to be very expensive.  They have many brands you are familiar with at SupaSave, which is nice.  E.g. Pauls 2L full cream milk (imported from Australia) $8.80!!!!

from the last milk scandal from China i queried Pauls Milk regarding their product in Brunei,their comment was they don't import to Brunei! so it could be a parralel import?

International branded food franchises are making a killing here selling at international prices while paying local wages!(less than $20 a day daily wage!)
so u still go and patronise them becos....but don't expect too much service,of course there are exceptions,
Come on $5 for a coffee!,but the waiter earns let say at best $20 day,is the waiters whole days hard work worth only 4 coffees?
Brunei has no labour union but has a set minimum wage that is worth about these few coffees too.try 2!for the average waiter in a basic eatery.here we try to smile to cheer them up & not the other way around.put on ur DO's if ur in Brunei

I find the cost of utility bills generally cheaper than in the UK.

My monthly water bill averages under $3. In the UK, I was paying around $80 a month!!

Electricity averages about $170 a month - in the UK, it would have been about the same, but ofcourse I was also paying for gas in the UK, which I don't pay for here.

The telephone and internet are not cheap, nor are they particularly good value - that's the one area where Brunei does not compare favourably with the UK. We also have a satellite TV package with DST - again, not cheap.

As for food... Local produce (fresh fruit, veg, fish, meat, eggs, etc) are all very reasonable and widely available. You do pay through the nose for foodstuffs that have been imported from the UK or other countries, but then you'd expect that! A box of Rice Krispies, for instance, costs around $9! Dairy produce tends to be quite expensive, and fresh milk is hard to come by and pricey (only available in Supasave, as far as I know). Eating out, if you shop around for restaurants, is very reasonable compared to the UK. It's easy to have a meal for 4, with drinks, for under $50.

The biggest pleasant change for me, tho, has been the cost of petrol... when I left the UK, diesel was £1.30 a litre (approx $2.60). Here, it's 50c a litre! So, a fifth of the cost

Overall, I do spend more here on groceries per month than I did in the UK, but I am saving a fortune on fuel, so it more than balances out in my favour.

All smiles from me

Hi emmarooney!

Thank you for your contribution,
Harmonie.