Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Zambia

Lusaka vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 30.1% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 3.7% more in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 1.2% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 3.7% more in Lusaka
Housing: pay 66.3% less in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.0% less in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 96.9% more in Lusaka

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

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Lusaka vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.7% more for restaurants

	Freetown	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$5.53 ZMW110.20	+176.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-54.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.75 ZMW15.03	-58.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.47 ZMW9.39	-44.5%
Average			+3.7%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.2% more for groceries

	Freetown	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$1.20 ZMW23.92	+83.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$5.15 ZMW102.63	+45.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$6.52 ZMW129.88	-28.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.94 ZMW38.66	+7.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$2.87 ZMW57.22	-36.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$1.53 ZMW30.42	-51.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$1.10 ZMW21.94	-19.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+414.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.70 ZMW13.88	-69.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+28.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+12.2%
Average			+1.2%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% more for transportation

	Freetown	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$5.77 ZMW115.01	+15.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$50.15 ZMW999.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-37.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$14.58 ZMW290.52	+224.0%
Average			+3.7%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.3% less for housing

	Freetown	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	-58.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	-85.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	+34.1%
Average			-66.3%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$16,638.36 ZMW332K

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.26 ZMW25.05	-44.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$3.02 ZMW60.11	+0.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.03 ZMW120.22
Average			-20.0%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 96.9% more for clothing

	Freetown	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$23.28 ZMW463.85	+132.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$15.45 ZMW307.88
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$45.19 ZMW900.42	+125.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	+45.1%
Average			+96.9%

Freetown vs. Lusaka - 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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