Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Jamaica

Jamaica vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Jamaica is 78.9% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% more in Jamaica
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Jamaica
Transportation: pay 38.2% more in Jamaica
Housing: pay 99.3% more in Jamaica
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Jamaica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 76.1% more in Jamaica
Clothing: pay 3.5% more in Jamaica

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

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Jamaica vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% more for restaurants

	Botswana	Jamaica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$12.69 JMD2,020.87	+17.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$8.18 JMD1,302.71	+41.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$1.08 JMD172.18	+49.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.71 JMD113.81	+71.9%
Average			+33.2%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Botswana	Jamaica
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$3.00 JMD477.64	+242.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$5.70 JMD907.58	+80.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$13.76 JMD2,190.28	+151.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$3.54 JMD563.17	+43.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$2.86 JMD454.54	+35.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$2.46 JMD391.14	+227.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$1.56 JMD247.72	+143.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$2.98 JMD475.04	+230.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$1.30 JMD206.83	+75.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$1.36 JMD216.67	+134.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$1.20 JMD191.12	+127.1%
Average			+124.9%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.2% more for transportation

	Botswana	Jamaica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$5.18 JMD823.90	+0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$37.77 JMD6,012.49	+27.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$44,062.55 JMD7M	+121.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$26.21 JMD4,172.00	+25.6%
Average			+38.2%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of transportation

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pay 99.3% more for housing

	Botswana	Jamaica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$51.12 JMD8,137.47	+21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$697.95 JMD111K	+95.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$438.00 JMD69,728.23	+97.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$114.56 JMD18,237.90	+151.0%
Average			+99.3%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Botswana	Jamaica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$324.59 JMD51,673.95	+155.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$8,236.21 JMD1M	+229.4%
Average			+190.0%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of childcare

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pay 76.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Jamaica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$2.20 JMD350.73	+10.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$5.31 JMD845.51	+128.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$9.44 JMD1,503.12	+161.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$55.18 JMD8,784.92	+64.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$11.65 JMD1,853.85	+89.4%
Average			+76.1%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.5% more for clothing

	Botswana	Jamaica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$23.60 JMD3,757.81	-50.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$31.47 JMD5,010.41	+88.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$74.84 JMD11,913.64	+3.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$93.02 JMD14,808.55	+18.7%
Average			+3.5%

Botswana vs. Jamaica - 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. Jamaica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 86.6% less likely to be unemployed in Jamaica

Size Comparison · See true size

Botswana is about 53 times bigger than Jamaica.

Moving from Botswana to Jamaica · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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