Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 31.8% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 91.6% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 81.4% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 22.1% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 13.6% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.7% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 40.9% more in Sao Tome

The cost of childcare, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation in Sao Tome are more expensive than in Colombo. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Sao Tome.

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Sao Tome vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Colombo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 91.6% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$8.96 STD200K	+134.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$7.89 STD176K	+4.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$1.84 STD41,004	+162.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$1.25 STD27,770	+374.5%
Average			+91.6%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 81.4% more for groceries

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.00 STD22,187	+81.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$9.80 STD218K	+42.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$5.87 STD131K	-2.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$4.85 STD108K	+196.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$8.89 STD198K	+302.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.70 STD37,881	-44.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.79 STD17,644	+113.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$1.63 STD36,419	-19.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$1.57 STD34,958	+177.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$1.31 STD29,299	+188.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$1.08 STD23,986	+205.2%
Average			+81.4%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.1% more for transportation

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$6.46 STD144K	+25.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$24,634.18 STD549M	-33.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$22.43 STD500K	+580.9%
Average			+22.1%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.6% less for housing

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$66.91 STD1M	+221.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$284.91 STD6M	-51.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$195.02 STD4M	-27.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$174.83 STD4M	+325.0%
Average			-13.6%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$228.62 STD5M	+505.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$2,194.77 STD49M	+81.5%
Average			+231.4%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$1.70 STD37,799	-23.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.26 STD50,442	-10.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$2.26 STD50,420	-78.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$33.92 STD756K	+142.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$20.16 STD449K	+344.6%
Average			+44.7%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.9% more for clothing

	Colombo	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$75.02 STD2M	+351.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$18.36 STD409K	-56.0%
Average			+40.9%

Colombo vs. Sao Tome - 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

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