Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Botswana

Gaborone vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 28.0% cheaper than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 24.8% less in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 9.0% more in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 15.5% more in Gaborone
Housing: pay 48.9% less in Gaborone
Childcare: pay 64.6% less in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.8% less in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 45.1% less in Gaborone

The cost of transportation and groceries in Gaborone are more expensive than in Chisinau. Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Gaborone.

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Gaborone vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Gaborone instead of Chisinau, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.8% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL200.58	$10.85 BWP149.72	-3.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.45	$5.79 BWP79.85	-33.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.60	$0.72 BWP9.98	-40.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.92	$0.42 BWP5.74	-53.3%
Average			-24.8%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.0% more for groceries

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.71	$0.88 BWP12.09	+23.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.39	$3.16 BWP43.66	-35.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.61	$5.47 BWP75.55	+15.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.81	$2.47 BWP34.02	-11.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.13	$2.11 BWP29.05	-10.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.83	$0.75 BWP10.37	+71.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.60	$0.64 BWP8.80	-26.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.79	$0.90 BWP12.45	-4.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL17.97	$0.74 BWP10.21	-26.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.58	$0.58 BWP8.02	+86.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.40	$0.53 BWP7.29	+114.9%
Average			+9.0%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.5% more for transportation

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.06	$5.15 BWP71.12	-19.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL241.70	$29.66 BWP409.23	+119.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL528K	$19,891.73 BWP274K	-32.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.26	$20.87 BWP287.96	+322.7%
Average			+15.5%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.9% less for housing

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.39	$42.10 BWP580.91	+297.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	$356.36 BWP4,917.46	-47.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	$221.34 BWP3,054.28	-49.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	$45.63 BWP629.70	-75.4%
Average			-48.9%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay 64.6% less for childcare

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	$127.13 BWP1,754.22	-70.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL104K	$2,500.03 BWP34,497.92	-57.2%
Average			-64.6%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.12	$1.99 BWP27.45	-11.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.67	$2.32 BWP32.01	+7.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.18	$3.62 BWP49.91	+5.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL745.01	$33.58 BWP463.42	-19.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.43	$6.15 BWP84.84	-26.9%
Average			-12.8%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.1% less for clothing

	Chisinau	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	$47.53 BWP655.91	-40.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL841.43	$16.75 BWP231.07	-64.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	$72.33 BWP998.13	-36.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	$78.36 BWP1,081.31	-32.2%
Average			-45.1%

Chisinau vs. Gaborone - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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