Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 94.3% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 71.0% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 25.7% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 2.5% less in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.26 ETB655.54	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	+129.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	+46.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB93.51	$2.00 CRC995.21	+229.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 ETB87.20	$1.57 CRC781.41	+177.4%
Average			+145.8%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 71.0% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 ETB193.73	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	+101.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 ETB667.36	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	+3.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.42 ETB834.53	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	+38.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 ETB351.02	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	+22.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.76 ETB886.79	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	-33.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.08 ETB473.48	$1.78 CRC886.81	-42.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.43 ETB66.40	$0.62 CRC305.74	+42.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 ETB162.78	$1.65 CRC819.01	+55.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 ETB62.30	$1.24 CRC617.46	+206.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 ETB42.45	$1.28 CRC635.24	+363.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 ETB139.43	$1.10 CRC547.12	+21.5%
Average			+71.0%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.81 ETB740.52	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	+13.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	+354.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	-33.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.62 ETB556.29	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	+333.7%
Average			+167.1%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.7% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-62.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	-1.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+8.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-47.9%
Average			-25.7%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+449.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	-68.4%
Average			+190.7%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.90 ETB138.50	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	+187.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.09 ETB167.35	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+253.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.10 ETB784.81	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	-7.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	-5.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB577.06	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+142.9%
Average			+114.0%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+29.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	-40.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+19.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	-18.8%
Average			-2.5%

Ethiopia vs. Costa Rica - 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: December 2025

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