Cost of living comparison

Gambia

compared to

Nicaragua

Managua vs. Banjul Cost of Living Summary

Managua is 2.1 times more expensive than Banjul.

Restaurants: pay 5.7% less in Managua
Groceries: pay 69.4% more in Managua
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Managua
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Managua
Childcare: pay 39.6 times more in Managua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% more in Managua
Clothing: pay 33.9% more in Managua

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Managua are more expensive than in Banjul. Notably, childcare, housing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Managua.

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Managua vs. Banjul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Managua instead of Banjul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.7% less for restaurants

	Banjul	Managua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.31 GMD536.99	$10.00 NIO368.55	+36.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.86 GMD577.36	$7.61 NIO280.46	-3.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.64 GMD193.83	$0.88 NIO32.54	-66.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 GMD116.16	$0.71 NIO26.22	-55.0%
Average			-5.7%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 69.4% more for groceries

	Banjul	Managua
Bread 1 loaf	$0.63 GMD46.35	$2.37 NIO87.46	+276.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.04 GMD223.48	$5.80 NIO213.64	+90.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.12 GMD375.98	$4.68 NIO172.61	-8.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.93 GMD141.54	$2.37 NIO87.18	+22.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.23 GMD90.11	$2.87 NIO105.79	+134.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.92 GMD67.58	$1.82 NIO67.08	+98.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 GMD41.30	$0.27 NIO10.03	-51.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 GMD60.07	$0.82 NIO30.09	-0.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 GMD45.05	$1.11 NIO41.05	+81.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 GMD30.04	$1.79 NIO65.90	+337.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 GMD32.29	$1.01 NIO37.13	+129.4%
Average			+69.4%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Banjul	Managua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.00 GMD294.08	$5.06 NIO186.38	+26.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.55 GMD481.43	$6.01 NIO221.41	-8.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$2,635.13 GMD194K	$22,973.64 NIO847K	+771.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$14.69 NIO541.39
Average			+120.1%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Banjul	Managua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.05 GMD3,310.81	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$102.56 GMD7,538.16	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	+150.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$81.08 GMD5,959.46	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	+123.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.25 GMD1,708.96	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	+398.2%
Average			+149.0%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of housing

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pay 39.6 times more for childcare

	Banjul	Managua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$6.76 GMD496.62	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	+3390.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$135.14 GMD9,932.43	$6,060.00 NIO223K	+4384.4%
Average			+3856.1%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Banjul	Managua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.61 GMD412.40	$1.50 NIO55.28	-73.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 GMD271.01	$2.60 NIO95.82	-29.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.69 GMD124.16	$2.73 NIO100.51	+61.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.65 GMD1,738.18	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	+47.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.38 GMD248.31	$9.00 NIO331.69	+166.4%
Average			+5.7%

Banjul vs. Managua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.9% more for clothing

	Banjul	Managua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.00 GMD4,116.00	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+6.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.34 GMD3,258.99	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+46.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.43 GMD7,308.11	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+23.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.99 GMD6,393.77	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+66.5%
Average			+33.9%

Banjul vs. Managua - 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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