Cost of living comparison

Gambia

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Banjul Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 2.4 times more expensive than Banjul.

Restaurants: pay 3.4% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 3.6 times more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 23.4 times more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.7% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 40.2% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Banjul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4% more for restaurants

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.31 GMD536.99	$8.96 STD200K	+22.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.86 GMD577.36	$7.89 STD176K	+0.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.64 GMD193.83	$1.84 STD41,004	-30.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 GMD116.16	$1.25 STD27,770	-21.1%
Average			+3.4%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.63 GMD46.35	$1.00 STD22,187	+57.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.04 GMD223.48	$9.80 STD218K	+222.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.12 GMD375.98	$5.87 STD131K	+14.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.93 GMD141.54	$4.85 STD108K	+152.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.23 GMD90.11	$8.89 STD198K	+625.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.92 GMD67.58	$1.70 STD37,881	+84.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 GMD41.30	$0.79 STD17,644	+40.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 GMD60.07	$1.63 STD36,419	+100.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 GMD45.05	$1.57 STD34,958	+156.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 GMD30.04	$1.31 STD29,299	+221.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 GMD32.29	$1.08 STD23,986	+145.1%
Average			+133.5%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.6 times more for transportation

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.00 GMD294.08	$6.46 STD144K	+61.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.55 GMD481.43	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$2,635.13 GMD194K	$24,634.18 STD549M	+834.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$22.43 STD500K
Average			+263.0%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.05 GMD3,310.81	$66.91 STD1M	+48.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$102.56 GMD7,538.16	$284.91 STD6M	+177.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$81.08 GMD5,959.46	$195.02 STD4M	+140.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.25 GMD1,708.96	$174.83 STD4M	+651.9%
Average			+195.1%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 23.4 times more for childcare

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$6.76 GMD496.62	$228.62 STD5M	+3283.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$135.14 GMD9,932.43	$2,194.77 STD49M	+1524.1%
Average			+2244.2%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.61 GMD412.40	$1.70 STD37,799	-69.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 GMD271.01	$2.26 STD50,442	-38.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.69 GMD124.16	$2.26 STD50,420	+34.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.65 GMD1,738.18	$33.92 STD756K	+43.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.38 GMD248.31	$20.16 STD449K	+496.6%
Average			+25.7%

Banjul vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.2% less for clothing

	Banjul	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.00 GMD4,116.00	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.34 GMD3,258.99	$75.02 STD2M	+69.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.43 GMD7,308.11	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.99 GMD6,393.77	$18.36 STD409K	-78.9%
Average			-40.2%

Banjul 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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