Cost of living comparison

compared to

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 48.3% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.3% less in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 54.6% less in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 25.1% less in Rwanda
Housing: pay 42.0% less in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 42.8% less in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.3% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 65.7% less in Rwanda

Expenses including clothing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, childcare, and housing are lower in Rwanda.

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.3% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,829.83	$3.45 RWF5,017	-64.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,712.68	$6.89 RWF10,033	-27.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC989.56	$0.86 RWF1,249	-57.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC776.98	$0.57 RWF833	-63.6%
Average			-53.3%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.6% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,255.62	$1.05 RWF1,522	-58.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,225.24	$2.26 RWF3,284	-49.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,719.11	$2.64 RWF3,846	-64.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,381.85	$1.65 RWF2,408	-40.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,891.97	$2.10 RWF3,049	-45.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC881.78	$1.15 RWF1,678	-35.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC304.00	$0.37 RWF537	-40.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC814.36	$0.70 RWF1,021	-57.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC613.95	$0.48 RWF698	-61.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC631.64	$0.23 RWF331	-82.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC544.02	$0.39 RWF569	-64.5%
Average			-54.6%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.1% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,703.80	$4.42 RWF6,435	-19.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC26,983.82	$29.30 RWF42,642	-46.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18M	$26,543.61 RWF39M	-27.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,750.25	$14.48 RWF21,070	-7.7%
Average			-25.1%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.0% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,307.37	$19.48 RWF28,344	-60.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC398K	$575.44 RWF837K	-28.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC275K	$322.51 RWF469K	-42.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,423.35	$39.98 RWF58,184	-37.1%
Average			-42.0%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

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pay 42.8% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC256K	$166.62 RWF242K	-67.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC5M	$7,842.43 RWF11M	-17.9%
Average			-42.8%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,278.51	$1.03 RWF1,505	-60.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,897.55	$2.31 RWF3,366	-39.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,322.99	$1.72 RWF2,508	-63.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,006.04	$31.41 RWF45,708	-46.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,501.68	$3.45 RWF5,017	-62.1%
Average			-54.3%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 65.7% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,777.00	$19.19 RWF27,926	-67.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,096.89	$19.30 RWF28,094	-56.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC55,754.11	$22.98 RWF33,445	-79.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,172.18	$37.92 RWF55,184	-59.4%
Average			-65.7%

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda - 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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