Cost of living comparison

Switzerland

compared to

Rwanda

Kigali vs. Bern Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 71.9% cheaper than Bern.

Restaurants: pay 83.7% less in Kigali
Groceries: pay 68.6% less in Kigali
Transportation: pay 47.9% less in Kigali
Housing: pay 67.5% less in Kigali
Childcare: pay 89.4% less in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 79.8% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 83.2% less in Kigali

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and housing are lower in Kigali.

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Kigali vs. Bern Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kigali instead of Bern, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 83.7% less for restaurants

	Bern	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$28.80 CHF23.73	$2.71 RWF3,995	-90.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$15.60 CHF12.85	$6.77 RWF9,988	-56.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$6.23 CHF5.14	$0.78 RWF1,152	-87.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$6.97 CHF5.74	$0.56 RWF824	-92.0%
Average			-83.7%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 68.6% less for groceries

	Bern	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95 CHF2.43	$1.05 RWF1,544	-64.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.12 CHF9.98	$2.11 RWF3,107	-82.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.18 CHF6.74	$3.16 RWF4,663	-61.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$7.71 CHF6.35	$1.63 RWF2,406	-78.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$13.20 CHF10.87	$2.08 RWF3,071	-84.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.76 CHF1.45	$1.09 RWF1,614	-37.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 CHF0.75	$0.35 RWF521	-61.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 CHF0.99	$0.69 RWF1,017	-42.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.09 CHF1.72	$0.48 RWF705	-77.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 CHF0.60	$0.23 RWF332	-68.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 CHF0.75	$0.34 RWF498	-62.8%
Average			-68.6%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 47.9% less for transportation

	Bern	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.82 CHF7.27	$7.00 RWF10,318	-20.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$98.40 CHF81.06	$25.40 RWF37,453	-74.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$42,598.89 CHF35,094.71	$26,080.15 RWF38M	-38.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$44.64 CHF36.78	$18.97 RWF27,965	-57.5%
Average			-47.9%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.5% less for housing

	Bern	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.60 CHF44.98	$21.00 RWF30,961	-61.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,861.45 CHF1,533.54	$666.07 RWF982K	-64.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,408.46 CHF1,160.35	$413.79 RWF610K	-70.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$207.74 CHF171.14	$64.32 RWF94,832	-69.0%
Average			-67.5%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 89.4% less for childcare

	Bern	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$3,125.25 CHF2,574.71	$112.90 RWF166K	-96.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,462.54 CHF25,096.29	$9,510.48 RWF14M	-68.8%
Average			-89.4%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 79.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Bern	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$9.00 CHF7.41	$1.02 RWF1,498	-88.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.78 CHF5.59	$2.42 RWF3,569	-64.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.23 CHF9.25	$2.03 RWF2,996	-81.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$88.38 CHF72.81	$26.72 RWF39,395	-69.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$24.00 CHF19.77	$3.39 RWF4,994	-85.9%
Average			-79.8%

Bern vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 83.2% less for clothing

	Bern	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$139.98 CHF115.32	$17.39 RWF25,635	-87.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$60.81 CHF50.10	$15.58 RWF22,971	-74.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$155.71 CHF128.28	$22.24 RWF32,792	-85.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$194.99 CHF160.64	$33.87 RWF49,938	-82.6%
Average			-83.2%

Bern vs. Kigali - 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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