The other day I mentioned that a pharmacist here makes 8,000 soms a month. My cousin wondered how that related to the cost of living, which is quite a good question.

The average cost of living here for a working age man is 5,800 soms. For a working age woman, 5,600 soms. For each child, 4,300 soms. So for this guy his family's minimum cost of living is 24,300 soms. And that's why he drives a taxi in his off hours. Amazing, eh?

(Those numbers are cost of living per month, as of the second quarter of 2014.)