Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Ethiopia

Ethiopia vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Ethiopia is 11.8% cheaper than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.3% less in Ethiopia
Groceries: pay 44.4% less in Ethiopia
Transportation: pay 20.8% less in Ethiopia
Housing: pay 32.3% more in Ethiopia
Childcare: pay 6.5% less in Ethiopia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.9% less in Ethiopia
Clothing: pay 21.6% more in Ethiopia

The cost of housing and clothing in Ethiopia are more expensive than in Japan. Expenses including entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, restaurants, and childcare are lower in Ethiopia.

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Ethiopia vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.3% less for restaurants

	Japan	Ethiopia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,066	$4.00 ETB654.34	-40.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥805	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	+27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$0.61 ETB99.06	-46.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥120	$0.66 ETB107.50	-13.2%
Average			-20.3%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.4% less for groceries

	Japan	Ethiopia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥241	$1.19 ETB194.58	-22.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥877	$3.70 ETB604.57	-33.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥879	$4.09 ETB669.40	-26.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥318	$1.77 ETB289.63	-11.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥450	$4.59 ETB750.34	+61.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥342	$2.44 ETB399.44	+12.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥171	$0.30 ETB48.73	-72.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥243	$0.99 ETB161.65	-35.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥303	$0.31 ETB50.42	-83.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$0.22 ETB35.99	-80.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.49 ETB79.77	-54.7%
Average			-44.4%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.8% less for transportation

	Japan	Ethiopia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥649	$3.53 ETB577.22	-14.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,986	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	-66.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$55,000.00 ETB9M	+161.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,895	$3.53 ETB576.64	-85.7%
Average			-20.8%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.3% more for housing

	Japan	Ethiopia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,300	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+533.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,367	$706.95 ETB116K	+29.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥57,008	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	+9.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,897	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+38.4%
Average			+32.3%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of housing

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pay 6.5% less for childcare

	Japan	Ethiopia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,893	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	-67.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+167.1%
Average			-6.5%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Ethiopia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥406	$0.80 ETB130.87	-68.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥483	$0.92 ETB150.32	-69.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥605	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	+109.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,424	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	-17.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,853	$3.75 ETB613.45	-68.0%
Average			-51.9%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.6% more for clothing

	Japan	Ethiopia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,320	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	-28.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,950	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	+126.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,394	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	+32.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,805	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	+2.1%
Average			+21.6%

Japan vs. Ethiopia - 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. Ethiopia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ethiopia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 97.4% less money in Ethiopia

Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 2.9 times smaller than Ethiopia.

Moving from Japan to Ethiopia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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