Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Rwanda

Kigali vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 25.7% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 14.8% less in Kigali
Groceries: pay 48.9% less in Kigali
Transportation: pay 93.0% more in Kigali
Housing: pay 43.8% less in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.1% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 9.4% more in Kigali

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

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Kigali vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.8% less for restaurants

	Freetown	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$2.71 RWF4,005	+35.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$6.77 RWF10,013	-38.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.78 RWF1,155	-57.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.56 RWF826	-34.2%
Average			-14.8%

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.9% less for groceries

	Freetown	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$1.05 RWF1,548	+59.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$2.11 RWF3,115	-40.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$3.16 RWF4,675	-65.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.63 RWF2,412	-10.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$2.08 RWF3,078	-54.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$1.09 RWF1,618	-65.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.35 RWF522	-74.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.69 RWF1,019	+114.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.48 RWF707	-78.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.23 RWF333	-75.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.34 RWF499	-54.3%
Average			-48.9%

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.0% more for transportation

	Freetown	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$7.00 RWF10,345	+39.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$25.40 RWF37,550
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$26,080.15 RWF39M	+117.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$18.97 RWF28,037	+321.5%
Average			+93.0%

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.8% less for housing

	Freetown	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$21.00 RWF31,041	-61.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$666.07 RWF985K	-28.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$413.79 RWF612K	-67.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$64.32 RWF95,077	+40.2%
Average			-43.8%

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$112.90 RWF167K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$9,510.48 RWF14M

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.02 RWF1,502	-54.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$2.42 RWF3,578	-12.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$2.03 RWF3,004	-32.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$26.72 RWF39,497
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.39 RWF5,007
Average			-36.1%

Freetown vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.4% more for clothing

	Freetown	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$17.39 RWF25,701	+73.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$15.58 RWF23,031
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$22.24 RWF32,877	+11.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$33.87 RWF50,067	-32.3%
Average			+9.4%

Freetown vs. Kigali - 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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