Cost of living comparison

Benin

compared to

Panama

Panama vs. Benin Cost of Living Summary

Panama is 73.2% more expensive than Benin overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.8% more in Panama
Groceries: pay 29.1% more in Panama
Transportation: pay 2.1% more in Panama
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Panama
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Panama
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.6% more in Panama
Clothing: pay 67.6% more in Panama

The cost of housing, childcare, clothing, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Panama are more expensive than in Benin. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Panama.

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Panama vs. Benin Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.8% more for restaurants

	Benin	Panama
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$8.20 PAB8.20	+60.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.39 F CFA5,481	$8.90 PAB8.90	-5.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 F CFA598	$1.41 PAB1.41	+37.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 F CFA532	$1.30 PAB1.30	+43.3%
Average			+29.8%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.1% more for groceries

	Benin	Panama
Bread 1 loaf	$1.22 F CFA710	$2.28 PAB2.28	+87.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 F CFA2,741	$6.18 PAB6.18	+31.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.42 F CFA6,665	$7.09 PAB7.09	-37.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.73 F CFA1,595	$2.56 PAB2.56	-6.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 F CFA1,424	$3.42 PAB3.42	+40.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.86 F CFA1,086	$1.86 PAB1.86	-0.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 F CFA482	$0.59 PAB0.59	-28.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 F CFA347	$1.76 PAB1.76	+196.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 F CFA701	$1.67 PAB1.67	+39.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 F CFA339	$1.09 PAB1.09	+88.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.77 F CFA452	$1.14 PAB1.14	+47.5%
Average			+29.1%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1% more for transportation

	Benin	Panama
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 F CFA2,689	$4.34 PAB4.34	-5.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$23.00 PAB23.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$23,920.67 PAB23,920.67
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.29 F CFA7,176	$16.62 PAB16.62	+35.2%
Average			+2.1%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Benin	Panama
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$49.81 PAB49.81	+3.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$179.24 F CFA105K	$789.50 PAB789.50	+340.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.43 F CFA97,169	$614.84 PAB614.84	+269.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.13 F CFA66,049	$96.53 PAB96.53	-14.7%
Average			+198.5%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Benin	Panama
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$130.87 F CFA76,406	$543.33 PAB543.33	+315.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,547.83 F CFA3M	$7,213.83 PAB7,213.83	+30.0%
Average			+132.3%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Benin	Panama
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.85 F CFA498	$2.21 PAB2.21	+158.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$3.73 PAB3.73	-27.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.41 F CFA1,993	$5.29 PAB5.29	+55.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$50.91 PAB50.91	+5.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.54 F CFA4,983	$6.13 PAB6.13	-28.1%
Average			+10.6%

Benin vs. Panama - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 67.6% more for clothing

	Benin	Panama
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.61 F CFA14,949	$45.56 PAB45.56	+77.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$36.71 PAB36.71
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.14 F CFA19,932	$69.81 PAB69.81	+104.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$68.28 F CFA39,864	$88.33 PAB88.33	+29.4%
Average			+67.6%

Benin vs. Panama - 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. Panama

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 25 statistics

Make 11.9 times more money in Panama

Size Comparison · See true size

Benin is about 1.5 times bigger than Panama.

Moving from Benin to Panama · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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