Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sierra Leone vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Sierra Leone is 49.2% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 26.4% more in Sierra Leone
Groceries: pay 42.2% more in Sierra Leone
Transportation: pay 24.1% less in Sierra Leone
Housing: pay 4.2 times more in Sierra Leone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.4% less in Sierra Leone
Clothing: pay 65.5% less in Sierra Leone

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

Sierra Leone vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Botswana, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.4% more for restaurants

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.33 BWP136.61	$3.00 SLL62,908	-70.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 BWP79.48	$10.00 SLL209,695	+66.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 BWP10.83	$1.03 SLL21,591	+25.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 BWP6.36	$0.89 SLL18,596	+84.5%
Average			+26.4%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.2% more for groceries

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Bread 1 loaf	$0.86 BWP11.35	$0.67 SLL13,980	-22.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.42 BWP45.26	$3.54 SLL74,319	+3.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.53 BWP73.16	$9.15 SLL191,910	+65.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.32 BWP30.75	$2.01 SLL42,124	-13.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.34 BWP30.98	$3.40 SLL71,337	+45.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.80 BWP10.55	$1.81 SLL38,046	+127.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 BWP8.60	$0.91 SLL19,023	+39.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 BWP10.59	$0.32 SLL6,742	-59.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 BWP9.68	$2.27 SLL47,558	+209.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.50	$0.91 SLL19,023	+41.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.65	$0.74 SLL15,488	+27.7%
Average			+42.2%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.1% less for transportation

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.28 BWP56.68	$5.02 SLL105,180	+17.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.79 BWP407.33	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,652.69 BWP273,212.28	$12,000.00 SLL251,634,000	-41.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.46 BWP270.73	$10.75 SLL225,422	-47.5%
Average			-24.1%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.2 times more for housing

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$52.19 BWP690.48	$100.00 SLL2,096,950	+91.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$262.85 BWP3,477.25	$1,321.25 SLL27,705,952	+402.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$160.93 BWP2,128.93	$1,261.67 SLL26,456,519	+684.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$52.95 BWP700.48	$110.40 SLL2,314,990	+108.5%
Average			+321.7%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$147.01 BWP1,944.77	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,593.57 BWP47,538.94	??

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 BWP29.80	$1.50 SLL31,454	-33.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.30 BWP30.36	$1.74 SLL36,435	-24.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.68 BWP48.68	$3.00 SLL62,908	-18.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.35 BWP427.91	$50.00 SLL1,048,475	+54.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.76 BWP89.41	??
Average			-5.4%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 65.5% less for clothing

	Botswana	Sierra Leone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.00 BWP608.52	$10.00 SLL209,695	-78.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.41 BWP322.89	$8.00 SLL167,756	-67.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.82 BWP950.03	$20.00 SLL419,390	-72.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.12 BWP1,192.20	$50.00 SLL1,048,475	-44.5%
Average			-65.5%

Botswana vs. Sierra Leone - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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