Cost of living comparison

Tajikistan

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 22.9% more expensive than Dushanbe.

Restaurants: pay 90.2% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 80.2% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 26.1% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 2.9% more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.9% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 31.8% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 90.2% more for restaurants

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.88 TJS44.99	$8.96 STD200K	+83.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 TJS49.99	$7.89 STD176K	+45.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 TJS5.57	$1.84 STD41,004	+204.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 TJS3.25	$1.25 STD27,770	+254.0%
Average			+90.2%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 TJS5.69	$1.00 STD22,187	+61.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.53 TJS50.99	$9.80 STD218K	+77.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.10 TJS37.85	$5.87 STD131K	+43.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 TJS16.68	$4.85 STD108K	+168.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.96 TJS18.07	$8.89 STD198K	+354.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TJS7.86	$1.70 STD37,881	+99.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.29 TJS11.87	$0.79 STD17,644	-38.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 TJS11.11	$1.63 STD36,419	+35.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 TJS5.22	$1.57 STD34,958	+177.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 TJS2.56	$1.31 STD29,299	+374.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 TJS1.74	$1.08 STD23,986	+471.5%
Average			+121.4%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 80.2% more for transportation

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.37 TJS40.37	$6.46 STD144K	+47.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.50 TJS299.95	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,250.83 TJS150K	$24,634.18 STD549M	+51.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.68 TJS33.99	$22.43 STD500K	+509.0%
Average			+80.2%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.1% less for housing

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.18 TJS158.54	$66.91 STD1M	+289.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	$284.91 STD6M	-54.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	$195.02 STD4M	-44.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.70 TJS477.10	$174.83 STD4M	+238.2%
Average			-26.1%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9% more for childcare

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$83.42 TJS769.87	$228.62 STD5M	+174.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	$2,194.77 STD49M	-61.4%
Average			+2.9%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 TJS11.00	$1.70 STD37,799	+42.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 TJS16.50	$2.26 STD50,442	+26.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.79 TJS34.99	$2.26 STD50,420	-40.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.50 TJS419.93	$33.92 STD756K	-25.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.42 TJS49.99	$20.16 STD449K	+272.1%
Average			+37.9%

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.8% less for clothing

	Dushanbe	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.38 TJS224.96	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.65 TJS485.92	$75.02 STD2M	+42.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.64 TJS716.55	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.34 TJS519.91	$18.36 STD409K	-67.4%
Average			-31.8%

Dushanbe 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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See the cost of living in Tajikistan vs. Sao Tome and Principe. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Tajikistan and Sao Tome and Principe.

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