Cost of living comparison

compared to

Benin vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Benin is 32.0% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 50.1% less in Benin
Groceries: pay 17.8% less in Benin
Transportation: pay 36.1% less in Benin
Housing: pay 18.9% more in Benin
Childcare: pay 56.5% less in Benin
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.9% less in Benin
Clothing: pay 72.3% less in Benin

Expenses including clothing, childcare, restaurants, transportation, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Benin.

Benin vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Benin instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 50.1% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Benin
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,829.83	$3.56 F CFA1,977	-63.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,712.68	$6.23 F CFA3,459	-34.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC989.56	$0.93 F CFA519	-53.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC776.98	$0.80 F CFA445	-49.0%
Average			-50.1%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.8% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Benin
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,255.62	$1.60 F CFA890	-36.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,225.24	$4.90 F CFA2,718	+8.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,719.11	$10.90 F CFA6,048	+44.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,381.85	$2.42 F CFA1,342	-13.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,891.97	$2.36 F CFA1,311	-38.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC881.78	$1.62 F CFA897	-9.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC304.00	$0.85 F CFA471	+37.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC814.36	$0.62 F CFA344	-62.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC613.95	$0.74 F CFA411	-40.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC631.64	$0.67 F CFA374	-47.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC544.02	$0.67 F CFA374	-38.8%
Average			-17.8%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.1% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Benin
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,703.80	$4.13 F CFA2,293	-24.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC26,983.82	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18M	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,750.25	$8.19 F CFA4,546	-47.8%
Average			-36.1%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.9% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Benin
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,307.37	$50.45 F CFA28,003	+2.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC398K	$211.44 F CFA117K	-73.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC275K	$142.45 F CFA79,068	-74.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,423.35	$204.24 F CFA113K	+221.3%
Average			+18.9%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of housing

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pay 56.5% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Benin
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC256K	$136.51 F CFA75,774	-73.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC5M	$5,786.92 F CFA3M	-39.4%
Average			-56.5%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Benin
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,278.51	$1.07 F CFA593	-58.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,897.55	$5.94 F CFA3,295	+54.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,322.99	$3.56 F CFA1,977	-24.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,006.04	$47.48 F CFA26,356	-19.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,501.68	$8.90 F CFA4,942	-2.2%
Average			-9.9%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 72.3% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Benin
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,777.00	$17.81 F CFA9,884	-69.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,096.89	$8.90 F CFA4,942	-80.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC55,754.11	$8.90 F CFA4,942	-92.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,172.18	$48.97 F CFA27,180	-47.6%
Average			-72.3%

Costa Rica vs. Benin - 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: February 2026

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