Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Gambia

Banjul vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Banjul is 56.2% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 75.7% more in Banjul
Groceries: pay 41.2% less in Banjul
Transportation: pay 56.0% less in Banjul
Housing: pay 87.6% less in Banjul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.3% more in Banjul
Clothing: pay 3.6 times more in Banjul

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

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Banjul vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Banjul instead of Freetown, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 75.7% more for restaurants

	Freetown	Banjul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$7.31 GMD536.99	+265.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$7.86 GMD577.36	-28.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$2.64 GMD193.83	+43.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$1.58 GMD116.16	+86.1%
Average			+75.7%

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.2% less for groceries

	Freetown	Banjul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$0.63 GMD46.35	-3.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$3.04 GMD223.48	-14.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$5.12 GMD375.98	-44.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.93 GMD141.54	+6.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$1.23 GMD90.11	-73.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$0.92 GMD67.58	-71.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.56 GMD41.30	-58.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.82 GMD60.07	+154.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.61 GMD45.05	-73.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.41 GMD30.04	-55.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.44 GMD32.29	-40.5%
Average			-41.2%

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of groceries

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pay 56.0% less for transportation

	Freetown	Banjul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$4.00 GMD294.08	-20.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$6.55 GMD481.43
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$2,635.13 GMD194K	-78.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	??
Average			-56.0%

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.6% less for housing

	Freetown	Banjul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$45.05 GMD3,310.81	-18.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$102.56 GMD7,538.16	-89.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$81.08 GMD5,959.46	-93.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$23.25 GMD1,708.96	-49.3%
Average			-87.6%

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Banjul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$6.76 GMD496.62
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$135.14 GMD9,932.43

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Banjul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$5.61 GMD412.40	+149.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$3.69 GMD271.01	+33.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$1.69 GMD124.16	-43.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$23.65 GMD1,738.18
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.38 GMD248.31
Average			+44.3%

Freetown vs. Banjul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.6 times more for clothing

	Freetown	Banjul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$56.00 GMD4,116.00	+460.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.34 GMD3,258.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$99.43 GMD7,308.11	+397.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$86.99 GMD6,393.77	+74.0%
Average			+264.5%

Freetown vs. Banjul - 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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