Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 2.0 times more expensive than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 4.9% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 89.5% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 18.0% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 8.8 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.5% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 16.9% more in Tokyo

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing in Tokyo are more expensive than in Gaborone. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

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Tokyo vs. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Gaborone, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.9% less for restaurants

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$7.59 ¥1,200	-30.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$5.06 ¥800	-12.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$1.64 ¥259	+126.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.89 ¥140	+113.0%
Average			-4.9%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 89.5% more for groceries

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$1.71 ¥270	+95.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$5.29 ¥836	+67.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$5.75 ¥909	+5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$2.26 ¥358	-8.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$3.08 ¥487	+46.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$2.15 ¥340	+186.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$1.07 ¥170	+68.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$1.96 ¥309	+117.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$2.39 ¥377	+222.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$1.53 ¥241	+162.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$1.46 ¥231	+176.4%
Average			+89.5%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.0% more for transportation

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$4.08 ¥645	-20.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$63.27 ¥9,997	+113.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$21,725.38 ¥3M	+9.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$28.47 ¥4,499	+36.4%
Average			+18.0%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$30.33 ¥4,793	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+259.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$692.48 ¥109K	+212.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$113.45 ¥17,926	+148.6%
Average			+196.8%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 8.8 times more for childcare

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+955.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+630.1%
Average			+777.7%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$3.80 ¥600	+90.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$3.56 ¥563	+53.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$3.92 ¥620	+8.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$66.31 ¥10,478	+97.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$12.65 ¥1,999	+105.8%
Average			+77.5%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.9% more for clothing

	Gaborone	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$55.50 ¥8,770	+16.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$32.95 ¥5,207	+96.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$65.04 ¥10,278	-10.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$70.74 ¥11,178	-9.7%
Average			+16.9%

Gaborone vs. Tokyo - 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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