Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 47.3% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.2% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 67.2% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 15.4% more in Japan
Housing: pay 63.5% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 3.9 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.6% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 11.6% more in Japan

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

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Japan vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.2% less for restaurants

	Botswana	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$6.75 ¥1,066	-37.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$5.10 ¥805	-11.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$1.13 ¥179	+56.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.76 ¥120	+82.1%
Average			-14.2%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 67.2% more for groceries

	Botswana	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$1.53 ¥241	+74.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$5.55 ¥877	+75.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$5.56 ¥879	+1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$2.01 ¥318	-18.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$2.85 ¥450	+35.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$2.16 ¥342	+188.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$1.08 ¥171	+69.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$1.54 ¥243	+70.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$1.92 ¥303	+159.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$1.10 ¥174	+89.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$1.08 ¥170	+103.5%
Average			+67.2%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.4% more for transportation

	Botswana	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$4.11 ¥649	-20.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$63.20 ¥9,986	+113.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$21,047.50 ¥3M	+5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$24.65 ¥3,895	+18.1%
Average			+15.4%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 63.5% more for housing

	Botswana	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$33.54 ¥5,300	-20.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$546.58 ¥86,367	+53.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$360.78 ¥57,008	+63.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$113.26 ¥17,897	+148.2%
Average			+63.5%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 3.9 times more for childcare

	Botswana	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$417.01 ¥65,893	+228.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+352.0%
Average			+285.1%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$2.57 ¥406	+29.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$3.06 ¥483	+31.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$3.83 ¥605	+5.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$53.31 ¥8,424	+58.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$11.73 ¥1,853	+90.7%
Average			+47.6%

Botswana vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.6% more for clothing

	Botswana	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$46.32 ¥7,320	-2.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$31.33 ¥4,950	+87.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$59.45 ¥9,394	-17.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$81.04 ¥12,805	+3.4%
Average			+11.6%

Botswana vs. Japan - 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. Japan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Japan?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 4.6 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Botswana is about 1.5 times bigger than Japan.

Moving from Botswana to Japan · OECD 2023

71 people moved from Botswana to Japan.

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