Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 27.4% more expensive than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 55.5% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 36.1% less in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 16.3% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 8.0 times more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.9% more in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 57.9% less in Addis Ababa

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

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Addis Ababa vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.5% less for restaurants

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$4.00 ETB654.34	-81.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	+8.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.61 ETB99.06	-39.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.66 ETB107.50	-34.3%
Average			-55.5%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.1% less for groceries

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.19 ETB194.58
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$3.70 ETB604.57	+146.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$4.09 ETB669.40	-32.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$1.77 ETB289.63	-59.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$4.59 ETB750.34	-62.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$2.44 ETB399.44	-56.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.30 ETB48.73	-48.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$0.99 ETB161.65	+8.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$0.31 ETB50.42	-41.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$0.22 ETB35.99	-73.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$0.49 ETB79.77	+15.2%
Average			-36.1%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.3% less for transportation

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$3.53 ETB577.22	-62.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	+163.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$55,000.00 ETB9M	-17.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$3.53 ETB576.64
Average			-16.3%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+6.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$706.95 ETB116K	+182.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	+97.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+720.0%
Average			+173.5%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 8.0 times more for childcare

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	+445.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+1061.1%
Average			+695.9%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$0.80 ETB130.87	+33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$0.92 ETB150.32	+14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$8.00 ETB1,308.69
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	+63.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$3.75 ETB613.45	+212.5%
Average			+72.9%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.9% less for clothing

	Asmara	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	-75.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	-41.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	-60.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	-44.9%
Average			-57.9%

Asmara vs. Addis Ababa - 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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