Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 14.4% more expensive than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 18.5% less in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 47.0% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 48.6% less in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 37.6% more in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.7 times more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 72.3% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Asmara, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.5% less for restaurants

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$8.96 STD200K	-57.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$7.89 STD176K	+31.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$1.84 STD41,004	+84.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$1.25 STD27,770	+24.6%
Average			-18.5%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.0% more for groceries

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.00 STD22,187
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$9.80 STD218K	+553.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$5.87 STD131K	-3.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$4.85 STD108K	+10.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$8.89 STD198K	-27.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$1.70 STD37,881	-69.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.79 STD17,644	+36.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$1.63 STD36,419	+80.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$1.57 STD34,958	+196.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$1.31 STD29,299	+61.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$1.08 STD23,986	+154.3%
Average			+47.0%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.6% less for transportation

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$6.46 STD144K	-31.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$24,634.18 STD549M	-63.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$22.43 STD500K
Average			-48.6%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.6% more for housing

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$66.91 STD1M	-66.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$284.91 STD6M	+14.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$195.02 STD4M	-2.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$174.83 STD4M	+814.5%
Average			+37.6%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$228.62 STD5M	+814.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$2,194.77 STD49M	-15.6%
Average			+177.8%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.7 times more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$1.70 STD37,799	+182.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$2.26 STD50,442	+183.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.26 STD50,420
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$33.92 STD756K	+25.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$20.16 STD449K	+1579.6%
Average			+270.3%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 72.3% less for clothing

	Asmara	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$75.02 STD2M	-37.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$18.36 STD409K	-87.8%
Average			-72.3%

Asmara vs. Sao Tome - 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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