Cost of living comparison

compared to

Somalia vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Somalia is 10.3% cheaper than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.5% less in Somalia
Groceries: pay 16.4% more in Somalia
Transportation: pay 26.2% more in Somalia
Housing: pay 68.5% less in Somalia
Childcare: pay 76.0% less in Somalia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Somalia
Clothing: pay 71.6% less in Somalia

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

Somalia vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Somalia instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.5% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.26 ETB655.54	$2.88 SOS1,635	-32.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	$4.62 SOS2,631	-28.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB93.51	$0.74 SOS420	+21.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 ETB87.20	$0.40 SOS225	-30.2%
Average			-17.5%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 ETB193.73	$1.12 SOS640	-10.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 ETB667.36	$2.17 SOS1,233	-50.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.42 ETB834.53	$7.78 SOS4,423	+43.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 ETB351.02	$2.51 SOS1,429	+10.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.76 ETB886.79	$2.44 SOS1,387	-57.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.08 ETB473.48	$1.49 SOS846	-51.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.43 ETB66.40	$0.98 SOS559	+127.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 ETB162.78	$1.27 SOS724	+20.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 ETB62.30	$0.62 SOS354	+53.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 ETB42.45	$0.64 SOS363	+131.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 ETB139.43	$0.58 SOS330	-36.0%
Average			+16.4%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.2% more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.81 ETB740.52	$3.87 SOS2,201	-19.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	$25.00 SOS14,222	+108.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	$5,750.00 SOS3,270,984	-89.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.62 ETB556.29	$7.43 SOS4,229	+105.6%
Average			+26.2%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.5% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	$37.79 SOS21,498	-71.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	$142.93 SOS81,308	-82.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	$98.19 SOS55,855	-80.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	$73.70 SOS41,925	-39.6%
Average			-68.5%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of housing

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pay 76.0% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	$43.33 SOS24,651	-53.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	$585.00 SOS332,787	-98.1%
Average			-76.0%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.90 ETB138.50	$7.00 SOS3,982	+677.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.09 ETB167.35	$1.19 SOS676	+9.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.10 ETB784.81	$1.10 SOS626	-78.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	$33.33 SOS18,962	-46.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB577.06	$5.00 SOS2,844	+33.3%
Average			+119.1%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 71.6% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Somalia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	$15.25 SOS8,675	-66.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	$19.78 SOS11,251	-73.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	$19.89 SOS11,314	-78.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	$37.28 SOS21,206	-67.6%
Average			-71.6%

Ethiopia vs. Somalia - 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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