Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

Zambia

Lusaka vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 2.3% more expensive than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 53.5% less in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 3.1% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 33.6% less in Lusaka
Housing: pay 27.1% more in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 5.9 times more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0 times more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 77.8% less in Lusaka

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

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Lusaka vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lusaka instead of Asmara, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.5% less for restaurants

	Asmara	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$5.53 ZMW110.20	-73.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-16.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.75 ZMW15.03	-24.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.47 ZMW9.39	-52.9%
Average			-53.5%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.1% more for groceries

	Asmara	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.20 ZMW23.92
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$5.15 ZMW102.63	+243.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$6.52 ZMW129.88	+7.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$1.94 ZMW38.66	-55.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$2.87 ZMW57.22	-76.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$1.53 ZMW30.42	-72.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$1.10 ZMW21.94	+90.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+82.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$0.70 ZMW13.88	+31.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+42.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+95.7%
Average			+3.1%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.6% less for transportation

	Asmara	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$5.77 ZMW115.01	-39.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$50.15 ZMW999.41	+526.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-88.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$14.58 ZMW290.52
Average			-33.6%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.1% more for housing

	Asmara	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	-72.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	+54.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	-10.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	+221.8%
Average			+27.1%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 5.9 times more for childcare

	Asmara	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	+453.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	+539.9%
Average			+494.9%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$1.26 ZMW25.05	+109.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+252.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.02 ZMW60.11
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	+102.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$6.03 ZMW120.22	+402.7%
Average			+197.1%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.8% less for clothing

	Asmara	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$23.28 ZMW463.85	-82.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$15.45 ZMW307.88	-87.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$45.19 ZMW900.42	-77.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	-51.6%
Average			-77.8%

Asmara vs. Lusaka - 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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