Currency and formatting
- Currency
- Lao Kip (LAK)
- Symbol
- ₭ — placed before the amount
- Decimal places
- 0
- Formatted example
- ₭123.457
- Thousands separator
- .
- Decimal separator
- ,
- Digit grouping
- threes (3)
- Live rate
- No central-bank source publishes LAK yet
Watch out: LAK has no minor unit. Treating it like a two-decimal currency overcharges by 100×.
Tax
Payment methods in Laos
Roughly ordered by real-world use — not by what a card processor would prefer you offer.
- 01 bcel one
- 02 lapnet qr
- 03 cash on delivery
Card schemes that work domestically: visa, mastercard, unionpay. 3-D Secure is not standard; strong customer authentication is not legally mandated.
Locale
- Primary
- lo-LA
- Official languages
- Lao
- Direction
- left-to-right
- Date format
- DD/MM/YYYY
- Measurement
- metric
- GDPR applies
- no
Phone numbers
- Calling code
- +856
- Mobile format
- +856 20 XX XXX XXX
- Digits
- 10
Laos: common questions
What currency does Laos use?
Laos uses the Lao Kip (LAK), symbol ₭. It has no minor unit — amounts are whole numbers, so ₭123.457 is a complete price.
How many decimal places does LAK have?
LAK has 0 decimal places. Charging with the wrong number of minor units is a 100× error, so this is worth getting right.
What is the VAT rate in Laos?
The standard VAT rate in Laos is 10.00%. Prices are displayed tax-inclusive.
What payment methods are used in Laos?
The methods that matter in Laos, in rough order of use: bcel one, lapnet qr, cash on delivery.
What is the dialling code for Laos?
Laos's country calling code is +856. Mobile numbers are formatted +856 20 XX XXX XXX (10 digits after the country code).
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