Cost of living comparison

Iraq

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Baghdad Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 18.8% more expensive than Baghdad.

Restaurants: pay 85.0% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 2.9 times more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 84.3% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 39.4% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 7.0% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.4% less in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 6.6% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Baghdad Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 85.0% more for restaurants

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.79 IQD7,252	$8.96 STD200K	+87.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.63 IQD11,558	$7.89 STD176K	+3.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 IQD581	$1.84 STD41,004	+379.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.24 IQD361	$1.25 STD27,770	+422.5%
Average			+85.0%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9 times more for groceries

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.81 IQD1,220	$1.00 STD22,187	+23.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.93 IQD2,922	$9.80 STD218K	+407.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.02 IQD6,086	$5.87 STD131K	+46.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.90 IQD2,873	$4.85 STD108K	+155.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.14 IQD3,245	$8.89 STD198K	+314.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.52 IQD786	$1.70 STD37,881	+227.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 IQD743	$0.79 STD17,644	+61.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.48 IQD728	$1.63 STD36,419	+239.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 IQD524	$1.57 STD34,958	+353.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 IQD451	$1.31 STD29,299	+341.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.30 IQD459	$1.08 STD23,986	+255.3%
Average			+190.4%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 84.3% more for transportation

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.46 IQD3,719	$6.46 STD144K	+162.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.90 IQD34,673	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,083.90 IQD29M	$24,634.18 STD549M	+29.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.50 IQD21,960	$22.43 STD500K	+54.7%
Average			+84.3%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.4% less for housing

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.17 IQD63,845	$66.91 STD1M	+58.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$575.90 IQD872K	$284.91 STD6M	-50.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$365.77 IQD554K	$195.02 STD4M	-46.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$164.12 IQD248K	$174.83 STD4M	+6.5%
Average			-39.4%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 7.0% less for childcare

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$167.78 IQD254K	$228.62 STD5M	+36.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,458.96 IQD5M	$2,194.77 STD49M	-36.5%
Average			-7.0%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.82 IQD5,779	$1.70 STD37,799	-55.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.11 IQD4,703	$2.26 STD50,442	-27.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.91 IQD2,889	$2.26 STD50,420	+18.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.95 IQD71,080	$33.92 STD756K	-27.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.73 IQD16,239	$20.16 STD449K	+87.9%
Average			-12.4%

Baghdad vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.6% less for clothing

	Baghdad	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$28.84 IQD43,663	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.65 IQD49,441	$75.02 STD2M	+129.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.76 IQD104K	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$48.35 IQD73,200	$18.36 STD409K	-62.0%
Average			-6.6%

Baghdad 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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