Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 95.3% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 64.7% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 96.5% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 29.2% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 5.6 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.3% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 77.2% more in Costa Rica

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

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Costa Rica vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Botswana, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 64.7% more for restaurants

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	+2.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	+87.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	+236.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$1.79 CRC813.02	+329.5%
Average			+64.7%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 96.5% more for groceries

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	+216.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	+52.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	+52.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	+47.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	+109.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+193.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$0.73 CRC329.98	+13.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$1.67 CRC758.13	+84.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$1.43 CRC652.25	+93.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$1.44 CRC655.18	+147.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$1.33 CRC603.93	+151.0%
Average			+96.5%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.2% more for transportation

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	+12.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	+125.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$22,830.95 CRC10M	+14.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	-24.7%
Average			+29.2%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	+22.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$834.08 CRC380K	+134.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$597.43 CRC272K	+169.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	+50.2%
Average			+124.5%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 5.6 times more for childcare

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$742.27 CRC338K	+483.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+437.4%
Average			+460.2%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	+46.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	+75.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	+46.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	+97.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	+28.8%
Average			+58.3%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.2% more for clothing

	Botswana	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	+42.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	+195.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	+69.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	+38.5%
Average			+77.2%

Botswana vs. Costa Rica - 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: Botswana vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 2.6 times more money in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Botswana is about 11 times bigger than Costa Rica.

Moving from Botswana to Costa Rica · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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