Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Ethiopia

Ethiopia vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Ethiopia is 29.9% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 31.6% less in Ethiopia
Groceries: pay 7.0% less in Ethiopia
Transportation: pay 8.6% less in Ethiopia
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Ethiopia
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Ethiopia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.1% less in Ethiopia
Clothing: pay 35.6% more in Ethiopia

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

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Ethiopia vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ethiopia instead of Botswana, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 31.6% less for restaurants

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$4.00 ETB654.34	-63.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	+12.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$0.61 ETB99.06	-16.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.66 ETB107.50	+58.0%
Average			-31.6%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.0% less for groceries

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$1.19 ETB194.58	+35.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$3.70 ETB604.57	+16.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$4.09 ETB669.40	-25.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$1.77 ETB289.63	-28.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$4.59 ETB750.34	+117.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$2.44 ETB399.44	+225.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$0.30 ETB48.73	-53.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$0.99 ETB161.65	+9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$0.31 ETB50.42	-58.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$0.22 ETB35.99	-62.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$0.49 ETB79.77	-7.8%
Average			-7.0%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.6% less for transportation

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$3.53 ETB577.22	-31.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	-28.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$55,000.00 ETB9M	+176.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$3.53 ETB576.64	-83.1%
Average			-8.6%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+404.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$706.95 ETB116K	+98.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	+78.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+243.5%
Average			+116.2%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	+7.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+1107.5%
Average			+260.0%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$0.80 ETB130.87	-59.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$0.92 ETB150.32	-60.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	+121.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	+31.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$3.75 ETB613.45	-39.0%
Average			-29.1%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.6% more for clothing

	Botswana	Ethiopia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	-30.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	+323.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	+8.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	+5.5%
Average			+35.6%

Botswana vs. Ethiopia - 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. Ethiopia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ethiopia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 88.0% less money in Ethiopia

Size Comparison · See true size

Botswana is about 1.9 times smaller than Ethiopia.

Moving from Botswana to Ethiopia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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