Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lusaka vs. Dushanbe Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 43.0% more expensive than Dushanbe.

Restaurants: pay 8.6% less in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 37.0% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Lusaka
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 60.1% more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5% more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 17.1% less in Lusaka

The cost of transportation, housing, childcare, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Lusaka are more expensive than in Dushanbe. Expenses including clothing and restaurants are lower in Lusaka. Notably, transportation and housing are significantly more expensive in Lusaka.

Lusaka vs. Dushanbe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lusaka instead of Dushanbe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.6% less for restaurants

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.09 TJS58.23	$7.48 ZMW143.81	+22.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.00 TJS86.07	$3.82 ZMW73.49	-57.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 TJS5.74	$0.62 ZMW11.91	+3.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 TJS3.33	$0.34 ZMW6.50	-2.8%
Average			-8.6%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.0% more for groceries

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 TJS5.68	$0.77 ZMW14.76	+29.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.82 TJS55.70	$3.76 ZMW72.35	-35.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.96 TJS37.91	$4.99 ZMW95.94	+25.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.76 TJS16.86	$1.77 ZMW33.99	+0.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 TJS19.64	$1.78 ZMW34.31	-13.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 TJS7.41	$1.22 ZMW23.48	+57.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.34 TJS12.78	$0.73 ZMW14.01	-45.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 TJS8.82	$1.22 ZMW23.52	+32.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 TJS5.46	$0.50 ZMW9.61	-12.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TJS2.96	$0.89 ZMW17.04	+186.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.24 TJS2.27	$0.67 ZMW12.87	+181.4%
Average			+37.0%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 TJS39.41	$4.58 ZMW88.01	+11.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.59 TJS101.27	$38.52 ZMW740.77	+263.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,647.15 TJS111K	$8,004.53 ZMW154K	-31.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.60 TJS34.43	$12.00 ZMW230.79	+233.3%
Average			+119.2%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.59 TJS187.34	$118.37 ZMW2,276.46	+504.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$432.36 TJS4,134.99	$226.58 ZMW4,357.52	-47.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$249.58 TJS2,386.96	$123.07 ZMW2,366.92	-50.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.01 TJS401.77	$52.70 ZMW1,013.59	+25.5%
Average			+107.9%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 60.1% more for childcare

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$105.88 TJS1,012.65	$176.79 ZMW3,399.98	+67.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,623.59 TJS72,910.89	$11,677.88 ZMW225K	+53.2%
Average			+60.1%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.06 TJS10.13	$0.98 ZMW18.78	-7.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.94 TJS18.57	$2.05 ZMW39.37	+5.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 TJS30.38	$3.67 ZMW70.67	+15.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.10 TJS402.65	$50.47 ZMW970.60	+19.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.29 TJS50.63	$4.18 ZMW80.48	-21.0%
Average			+2.5%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.1% less for clothing

	Dushanbe	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$32.43 TJS310.12	$18.93 ZMW364.01	-41.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.87 TJS390.88	$16.99 ZMW326.75	-58.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.41 TJS759.49	$84.33 ZMW1,621.79	+6.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$58.24 TJS556.96	$73.12 ZMW1,406.30	+25.6%
Average			-17.1%

Dushanbe vs. Lusaka - 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: March 2026

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