Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Syria

Damascus vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

Damascus is 24.1% cheaper than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 81.3% more in Damascus
Groceries: pay 26.6% less in Damascus
Transportation: pay 3.8% more in Damascus
Housing: pay 42.6% less in Damascus
Childcare: pay 83.0% less in Damascus
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.3% more in Damascus
Clothing: pay 28.4% less in Damascus

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Damascus are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, and groceries are lower in Damascus. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Damascus.

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Damascus vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Damascus instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 81.3% more for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$10.00 SYP130K	+150.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$7.00 SYP91,014	+7.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$2.25 SYP29,254	+271.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.85 SYP11,008	+28.8%
Average			+81.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.6% less for groceries

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$0.40 SYP5,199	-66.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$1.96 SYP25,477	-47.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$4.03 SYP52,433	-1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$1.59 SYP20,653	-10.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$2.59 SYP33,645	-43.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$0.47 SYP6,174	-80.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.63 SYP8,218	+112.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$0.51 SYP6,582	-48.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.47 SYP6,154	+53.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.35 SYP4,563	+59.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.35 SYP4,608	-27.3%
Average			-26.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.8% more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$13.98 SYP182K	+296.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$10.00 SYP130K	-52.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$15,000.00 SYP195M	-72.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$13.15 SYP171K	+273.1%
Average			+3.8%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.6% less for housing

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$46.25 SYP601K	-78.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$523.33 SYP7M	-26.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$186.00 SYP2M	-52.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$107.06 SYP1M	-31.7%
Average			-42.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of housing

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pay 83.0% less for childcare

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$66.67 SYP867K	-51.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$1,780.73 SYP23M	-94.1%
Average			-83.0%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$2.00 SYP26,004	+150.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$3.71 SYP48,293	+304.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$2.77 SYP36,000	-65.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$28.00 SYP364K	-36.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$5.50 SYP71,511	+46.7%
Average			+40.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.4% less for clothing

	Addis Ababa	Damascus
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$28.60 SYP372K	-13.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$40.00 SYP520K	-43.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$60.00 SYP780K	-23.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$58.33 SYP758K	-29.5%
Average			-28.4%

Addis Ababa vs. Damascus - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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