Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bujumbura vs. Apia Cost of Living Summary

Bujumbura is 14.3% more expensive than Apia.

Restaurants
pay 79.8% less in Bujumbura
Groceries
pay 40.9% more in Bujumbura
Transportation
pay 6.0% more in Bujumbura
Housing
pay 86.0% more in Bujumbura
Entertainment and Sports
pay 19.1% less in Bujumbura

The cost of housing, groceries, and transportation in Bujumbura are more expensive than in Apia. Expenses including restaurants and entertainment and sports are lower in Bujumbura. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Bujumbura.

Bujumbura vs. Apia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bujumbura instead of Apia, you would:

pay 79.8% less for restaurants

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $47.26
WST130.00
$3.85
BIF11,550
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$14.54
WST40.00
$3.81
BIF11,428
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.82
WST5.00
$1.76
BIF5,270

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pay 40.9% more for groceries

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Bread
1 loaf
$0.82
WST2.25
$2.01
BIF6,015
Local cheese (8 oz) $0.45
WST1.25
$4.16
BIF12,483
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
WST18.93
$3.80
BIF11,384

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pay 6.0% more for transportation

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.13
WST11.36
$5.04
BIF15,121
Monthly public transit pass ?? $30.09
BIF90,222
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? ??

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pay 86.0% more for housing

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$36.35
WST100.00
$67.62
BIF203K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area ?? $433.02
BIF1M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $90.78
BIF272K

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $99.93
BIF300K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $9,992.86
BIF30M

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pay 19.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.45
WST9.50
$2.17
BIF6,503
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
WST8.00
$3.03
BIF9,076
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.18
WST17.00
??

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Apia
Bujumbura
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? ??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? ??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? ??

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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