With Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam being among the top most popular countries for travellers in South-East Asia, global travel booking company Omio has ranked which one is the most affordable for backpackers.
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By analysing a number of different factors for each country, including cheapest accommodation price, visa costs, food prices and travel prices, Omio has been able to reveal which South-East Asia country is the most affordable for travellers by then scoring each country from best to worse for each factor. The overall scores were then added up to provide a score out of 40 to create a final ranking system.
Vietnam is the most affordable South-East Asia Country for backpackers.
According to the data, the most affordable South-East Asia destination is Vietnam, scoring 40 out 45 across all factors. Offering travellers the cheapest beer (72p) and soft drink prices (36p) out of the five countries, Vietnam also offers cheap travel within the country, with the average one-way public transport ticket costing as little as 23p and cheap accommodation prices, starting from as little as a pound.
In second place is Indonesia, which actually ranked the most affordable for meal costs, coming in at an average of £1.37 for a meal at an inexpensive restaurant. It was also the cheapest place for those looking to embark on affordable leisure activities whilst they’re on their travels, which includes looking at gym prices, cinema ticket costs and tennis court rental prices.
Thailand came in third place respectively, followed by Malaysia and Singapore, with the latter scoring the highest prices across all categories compared to the other four countries.
More specifically, Singapore was significantly more pricey for accommodation, with the cheapest price for a one night stay coming in at an average of £51, compared to the super low prices of £1 for the top three countries.
However, whilst Singapore and Malaysia came out as more expensive than Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, these two countries actually enable travellers to stay for 3 months before needing to purchase a visa, the longest period than any other of the South-East Asia countries analysed.
OMIO used Numbeo to analyse a number of variables across 5 South-East Asia countries.
The variables included:
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant (Numbeo,GBP)
Domestic Beer at a Restaurant (0.5L, Numbeo,GBP)
Coke/Pepsi at a Restaurant (0.33L, Numbeo, GBP)
Food at Supermarket: Consisting of costs of:
Milk (regular, 1 liter)
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)
Eggs (regular, 12)
Local Cheese (1kg)
Water (1.5 liter bottle)
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro)
Chicken Fillets (1kg)
Apples (1kg)
Oranges (1kg)
Potato (1kg)
Lettuce (1 head)
Rice (white, 1kg)
Tomato (1kg)
Banana (1kg)
Onion (1kg)
Beef Round (1kg or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat)
One Way Local Travel Ticket (Numbeo, GBP)
Total Cost of Leisure Activities: Consisting of:
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend)
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat
Cost of living index (Numbeo) Consisting of: This is a combination of multiple factors which can be found on Numbeos Help Section.
Cheapest Accommodation (data collected from Booking.com, 1 night based on 1st May 2026)
How long you can stay without needing to pay for a visa
Each location was then scored from best to worse for each variable, with the top performing locations scoring 5 and then subsequent locations receiving incrementally lower scores. The overall scores were then summed and normalised to provide a score out of 45 to create a final ranking system.
The full data set can be found here.
About Omio
Since its foundation in 2013, the Omio Group has helped customers discover new ways of travelling. Thanks to its two interconnected platforms, Omio and Rome2Rio, Omio is the world's leading travel platform for searching, comparing, and booking. Omio B2B Partnership services OTAs and mobility providers with bespoke business solutions. Omio supports its customers in their desire to explore Europe, the US, Canada and Southeast Asia by train, bus, flight, and ferry. Omio sells more than 80,000 tickets daily, employs over 430 staff from more than 50 countries and maintains offices in Berlin, Prague, Melbourne, London and Bangalore. The Omio Group offers its customers journeys that move them