Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 51.1% cheaper than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 71.4% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 49.2% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 65.4% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 48.8% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 37.3% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 77.8% less in Thimphu

Expenses including clothing, restaurants, transportation, groceries, housing, and childcare are lower in Thimphu. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Thimphu.

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Thimphu vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 71.4% less for restaurants

	Asmara	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$2.58 BTN245.70	-87.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$4.91 BTN466.83	-18.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.50 BTN47.50	-50.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.18 BTN17.20	-81.9%
Average			-71.4%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.2% less for groceries

	Asmara	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.07 BTN101.96
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$1.88 BTN178.54	+25.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$3.03 BTN288.32	-49.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$1.88 BTN178.87	-57.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$1.79 BTN170.51	-85.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$1.15 BTN109.22	-79.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.69 BTN65.75	+19.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$0.73 BTN69.10	-19.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$0.33 BTN31.76	-36.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$0.26 BTN24.52	-68.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$0.31 BTN29.53	-26.6%
Average			-49.2%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

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pay 65.4% less for transportation

	Asmara	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$2.79 BTN264.82	-70.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$5.17 BTN491.40	-35.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-75.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$13.18 BTN1,253.06
Average			-65.4%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.8% less for housing

	Asmara	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	-87.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-49.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	-57.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	+35.0%
Average			-48.8%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

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pay 37.3% less for childcare

	Asmara	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	+79.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	-78.1%
Average			-37.3%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$2.58 BTN245.70	+330.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$1.28 BTN121.21	+59.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.88 BTN368.55
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	+72.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$3.10 BTN294.84	+158.5%
Average			+132.4%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.8% less for clothing

	Asmara	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	-63.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	-79.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	-66.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	-90.7%
Average			-77.8%

Asmara vs. Thimphu - 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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