Cost of living comparison

Benin

compared to

Nicaragua

Nicaragua vs. Benin Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 18.3% more expensive than Benin overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.6% less in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 4.3% less in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 9.7% more in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 30.1% more in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 40.3% more in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.5% less in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 2.6 times more in Nicaragua

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

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Nicaragua vs. Benin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Benin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.6% less for restaurants

	Benin	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$7.07 NIO260.53	+38.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.39 F CFA5,481	$6.94 NIO255.89	-26.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 F CFA598	$0.86 NIO31.77	-15.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 F CFA532	$0.62 NIO22.88	-31.8%
Average			-1.6%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.3% less for groceries

	Benin	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.22 F CFA710	$1.71 NIO62.93	+40.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 F CFA2,741	$3.70 NIO136.25	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.42 F CFA6,665	$4.65 NIO171.26	-59.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.73 F CFA1,595	$2.34 NIO86.37	-14.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 F CFA1,424	$2.55 NIO93.99	+4.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.86 F CFA1,086	$1.82 NIO67.08	-2.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 F CFA482	$0.27 NIO10.03	-67.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 F CFA347	$0.82 NIO30.09	+37.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 F CFA701	$1.11 NIO40.73	-8.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 F CFA339	$1.68 NIO61.77	+188.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.77 F CFA452	$1.01 NIO37.13	+30.1%
Average			-4.3%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.7% more for transportation

	Benin	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 F CFA2,689	$5.05 NIO186.17	+9.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$6.01 NIO221.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,973.64 NIO847K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.29 F CFA7,176	$13.49 NIO497.29	+9.8%
Average			+9.7%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.1% more for housing

	Benin	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	-32.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$179.24 F CFA105K	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	+63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.43 F CFA97,169	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	+48.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.13 F CFA66,049	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	-38.8%
Average			+30.1%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 40.3% more for childcare

	Benin	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$130.87 F CFA76,406	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	+80.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,547.83 F CFA3M	$6,060.00 NIO223K	+9.2%
Average			+40.3%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Benin	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.85 F CFA498	$1.40 NIO51.60	+64.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$2.60 NIO95.82	-49.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.41 F CFA1,993	$2.73 NIO100.51	-20.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	-32.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.54 F CFA4,983	$9.00 NIO331.69	+5.4%
Average			-13.5%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.6 times more for clothing

	Benin	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.61 F CFA14,949	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+133.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$65.00 NIO2,395.54
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.14 F CFA19,932	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+259.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$68.28 F CFA39,864	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+112.1%
Average			+161.2%

Benin vs. Nicaragua - 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

Compare further: Benin vs. Nicaragua

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Nicaragua?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 3.2 times more likely to be unemployed in Nicaragua

Size Comparison · See true size

Benin is about 1.2 times smaller than Nicaragua.

Moving from Benin to Nicaragua · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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