Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Botswana

Botswana vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Botswana is 32.1% cheaper than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.5% more in Botswana
Groceries: pay 40.2% less in Botswana
Transportation: pay 13.4% less in Botswana
Housing: pay 38.8% less in Botswana
Childcare: pay 74.0% less in Botswana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.2% less in Botswana
Clothing: pay 10.4% less in Botswana

Expenses including childcare, groceries, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing are lower in Botswana.

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Botswana vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Botswana instead of Japan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.5% more for restaurants

	Japan	Botswana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,066	$10.85 BWP148.87	+60.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥805	$5.79 BWP79.40	+13.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$0.72 BWP9.92	-36.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥120	$0.42 BWP5.71	-45.1%
Average			+16.5%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.2% less for groceries

	Japan	Botswana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥241	$0.88 BWP12.02	-42.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥877	$3.16 BWP43.42	-43.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥879	$5.47 BWP75.12	-1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥318	$2.47 BWP33.83	+22.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥450	$2.11 BWP28.88	-26.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥342	$0.75 BWP10.31	-65.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥171	$0.64 BWP8.75	-41.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥243	$0.90 BWP12.38	-41.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥303	$0.74 BWP10.15	-61.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$0.58 BWP7.97	-47.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.53 BWP7.25	-50.9%
Average			-40.2%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.4% less for transportation

	Japan	Botswana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥649	$5.15 BWP70.71	+25.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,986	$29.66 BWP406.91	-53.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$19,891.73 BWP273K	-5.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,895	$20.87 BWP286.32	-15.3%
Average			-13.4%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.8% less for housing

	Japan	Botswana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,300	$42.10 BWP577.61	+25.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,367	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	-34.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥57,008	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	-38.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,897	$45.63 BWP626.12	-59.7%
Average			-38.8%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of housing

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pay 74.0% less for childcare

	Japan	Botswana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,893	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	-69.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	-77.9%
Average			-74.0%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Botswana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥406	$1.99 BWP27.29	-22.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥483	$2.32 BWP31.83	-24.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥605	$3.62 BWP49.62	-5.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,424	$33.58 BWP460.78	-37.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,853	$6.15 BWP84.36	-47.6%
Average			-32.2%

Japan vs. Botswana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.4% less for clothing

	Japan	Botswana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,320	$47.53 BWP652.19	+2.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,950	$16.75 BWP229.75	-46.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,394	$72.33 BWP992.46	+21.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,805	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	-3.3%
Average			-10.4%

Japan vs. Botswana - 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

Compare further: Japan vs. Botswana

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 10.0 times more likely to be unemployed in Botswana

Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 1.5 times smaller than Botswana.

Moving from Japan to Botswana · Cost, visas & climate

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