Fresh food costs less at a Vietnamese local market than in a supermarket, and imported food costs 2-3 times its local equivalent. A week of groceries for one person cooking at home comes to $18-43 in 2026, at about 26,000 dong to the dollar.
How much do groceries cost in Vietnam in 2026?
Most staples cost $0.50-4 per kilo in 2026: rice $0.50-1.08, tomatoes about $1, chicken breast $2.50-3.85. Meat and imports sit higher, with pork at $3.50-7.70 and cheese near $12 per kilo. The ranges below combine shop and market prices from Numbeo, Expatarrivals, the Bach Hoa Xanh website and Vietnamese price lists.
| Item | Price in 2026 | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Rice, 1 kg | $0.50-1.08 (13,000-28,000 VND) | Variety: ordinary white rice sits at the bottom, fragrant types at the top |
| Eggs, 10 | $0.85-1.55 (22,000-40,000 VND) | Shop and pack size |
| Chicken breast, 1 kg | $2.50-3.85 (65,000-100,000 VND) | Market or chain |
| Pork, 1 kg | $3.50-7.70 (90,000-200,000 VND) | Cut and chain |
| Beef, 1 kg | $7.70-16.15 (200,000-420,000 VND) | Cut: round and back leg sit in the middle |
| Shrimp, 1 kg | $7.70-11.55 (200,000-300,000 VND) | Size and supermarket against hypermarket |
| Milk, 1 L | $1.15-1.90 (30,000-50,000 VND) | Brand: imported Meiji costs about $2.70 |
| Bread, one loaf | $0.45-0.95 (12,000-25,000 VND) | Plain local loaf against bakery loaf |
| Bananas, 1 kg | $0.35-0.75 at markets, $0.80-1.50 in supermarkets (8,800-20,000 and 21,000-39,000 VND) | Where you buy |
| Mango, 1 kg | $0.95-1.60 (25,000-42,000 VND) | Season |
| Oranges, 1 kg | $1.10-1.55 (28,000-40,000 VND) | Season and shop |
| Tomatoes, 1 kg | $0.95-1.35 (25,000-35,000 VND) | Market or chain |
| Potatoes, 1 kg | $0.60-1.35 (15,000-35,000 VND) | City and shop |
| Imported apples, 1 kg | $1.90-2.90 (50,000-75,000 VND) | Climate: apples do not grow locally |
| Cooking oil, 1 L | $1.65-2.70 (43,000-70,000 VND) | Brand |
| Sugar, 1 kg | $1.10-1.40 (29,000-37,000 VND) | White or cane |
| Bottled water, 1.5 L | $0.30-0.50 (8,000-13,000 VND) | Shop |
| Local beer, 0.5 L from a shop | $0.60-0.85 (15,000-22,000 VND) | Imported 0.33 L costs $1.35-1.80 |
| Ground coffee, 500 g | $2.90-6.15 (75,000-160,000 VND) | Brand and market against supermarket |
| Cheese, 1 kg | $11.55-12.00 (300,000-312,500 VND) | The most overpriced item on the list |
Is a local market cheaper than a supermarket in Vietnam?
For fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood, a market is cheaper. A kilo of bananas costs $0.35-0.75 at a market and $0.80-1.50 in a supermarket, which makes the supermarket 1.5-3 times dearer. Supermarkets win on predictability: the tag is the price, and nobody quotes you a tourist rate.
VietnamSpot’s price guides put supermarket mangoes 30-50% above market mangoes. At a wet market the price you pay also depends on how you ask.
Wet markets take cash only, so keep small notes, and the guide to withdrawing cash in Vietnam covers ATM limits and fees. I treat a 500,000 note from the ATM as useless at a stall before 10:00, so I break it at a convenience store first. Cards and VietQR work in supermarkets and malls. Haggling at a wet market is light, while supermarket and Lotte Mart prices are fixed.
What does a week of groceries cost for one person?
In dong, a week of home cooking for one person comes to 480,000-1,100,000 in 2026. Monthly estimates agree: GetWhereNext gives $80-150, Numbeo-based figures give about $120 and CostLiving $143. The spread comes from your basket. Local produce keeps you near the bottom, and imports push you toward the top.
Cooking at home pays off over weeks, so a long stay runs straight into the visa clock. The e‑visa portal sometimes declines foreign cards, and an overstay brings a fine and trouble at the exit. You can fill in the e‑visa form yourself in an evening, but the border day is the part I take over: with BestBus Vietnam a visa run from Nha Trang runs on a schedule and takes one day. Send me the date your visa ends and I will tell you which departure fits.
For a monthly picture that includes rent, see the breakdown of living costs in Nha Trang.
Which supermarket chain should you pick in Vietnam?
Pick the chain nearest to your door and check the same item in two chains for a week. Bach Hoa Xanh, Co.opmart and Lotte Mart sell the staples most expats cook with. The Numbeo groceries index puts Ho Chi Minh City at 34.1, Da Nang at 33.3 and Hanoi at 32.2, against 100 for New York.
Bach Hoa Xanh
Bach Hoa Xanh, run by MWG, had 3,612 stores at the end of August 2026, and fresh food plus everyday goods drive its growth. Its website lists TH true MILK 950 ml at $1.83 (47,500 VND), white sugar from $1.21 per kilo (31,500 VND) and 1 L bottles of cooking oil from $1.65 (43,000 VND).
Co.opmart
Saigon Co.op, the company behind Co.opmart, Co.op Food and Co.opXtra, runs more than 800 outlets nationwide after about 100 openings in 2025. With that many outlets there is a good chance of one near your flat.
Lotte Mart in Nha Trang
Lotte Mart has two stores in Nha Trang. The main hypermarket at 58 23/10 Street is open 07:30-22:00, and the Gold Coast branch at 1 Tran Hung Dao is open 08:30-22:00. Tills take Visa and Mastercard, while food-court tenants prefer cash.
When do the markets in Nha Trang open and close?
Cho Dam, the central market, opens daily 05:00-18:30, and the Vinh Hai fish market runs 06:00-18:00. Both are best before 10:00, and fish is freshest between 06:00 and 09:00. Local food markets cost less than tourist ones, so choose the stall where Vietnamese shoppers queue.
Cho Dam
Cho Dam sells fresh produce from 05:00. Tourists use it too, so haggle lightly on food and expect souvenir stalls to start much higher than a grocery stall.
Xom Moi
Xom Moi is a local food market that opens around 06:00 and closes around 18:00. VietnamSpot reports prices 20-30% below Cho Dam, which makes it the better stop for a weekly shop. For vegetables I pick Xom Moi over Cho Dam, because the tourist crowd at Cho Dam means you start every purchase by haggling down from a visitor’s quote.
Vinh Hai and Binh Tan fish markets
Vinh Hai is the market for fish, and the early hours above are the ones that count. Binh Tan keeps fixed seafood prices, so it suits a first purchase when you do not yet know what a fair price looks like.
The night market
The night market runs from about 18:00 to 23:00 and sets tourist prices on clothes and snacks. Skip it for groceries.
What is overpriced in Vietnamese supermarkets?
Western food costs 2-3 times its local equivalent. Cheese is the clearest case: about $12 per kilo, roughly three times chicken per kilo. Imported beer runs $1.35-1.80 per 0.33 L, 3-4 times the price of local beer. If I had to cut one line from the basket it would be cheese, since it buys the least food per dollar. Buckwheat is not on ordinary shelves at all, only in Russian and CIS shops.
Home coffee follows the same logic. A 500 g pack of Trung Nguyen at Lotte Mart costs $2.90-6.15, while a cappuccino in a Hanoi café costs about $1.85.
What should you buy where?
Buy vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood at a market before 10:00 with small notes. Buy packaged food, milk, oil and anything you want at a fixed price at Bach Hoa Xanh, Co.opmart or Lotte Mart. Leave imported cheese and apples for special occasions, and plan the visa end date before the rent month starts.
A grocery budget works only while your visa does. Tell me your city and arrival date on WhatsApp and I will work out what fits.
Methodology: Where These Numbers Come From
Prices come from Numbeo for Nha Trang and Vietnam averages, Expatarrivals for Hanoi in June 2026, VietnamSpot price guides from July 2026, the Bach Hoa Xanh website on 19 October 2026, a Vietnamese retail price table from 20 July 2026, WinMart pork prices reported on 26 June 2026 and Lotte Mart’s online catalogue checked on 18 September 2026.
Dollar figures use 26,000 dong per dollar. Where sources disagree, the table shows both ends of the range. The figures were last compared on 19 October 2026.
