Cost of living comparison

Uganda

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Kampala Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 52.4% more expensive than Kampala.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 2.4 times more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 6.4% more in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 50.9% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.9% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 57.2% more in Sao Tome

The cost of restaurants, groceries, transportation, clothing, entertainment and sports, and housing in Sao Tome are more expensive than in Kampala. Notably, restaurants, groceries, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Sao Tome.

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Sao Tome vs. Kampala Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Kampala, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.45 UGX10,151	$8.96 STD200K	+265.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.36 UGX30,452	$7.89 STD176K	+7.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 UGX1,523	$1.84 STD41,004	+399.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 UGX1,107	$1.25 STD27,770	+365.6%
Average			+151.3%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 UGX3,747	$1.00 STD22,187	+9.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.18 UGX9,009	$9.80 STD218K	+349.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.90 UGX11,976	$5.87 STD131K	+102.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.58 UGX6,530	$4.85 STD108K	+207.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 UGX8,472	$8.89 STD198K	+334.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.95 UGX3,939	$1.70 STD37,881	+78.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 UGX2,353	$0.79 STD17,644	+39.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 UGX2,430	$1.63 STD36,419	+178.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 UGX2,225	$1.57 STD34,958	+191.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$1.31 STD29,299	+136.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$1.08 STD23,986	+93.4%
Average			+135.5%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.31 UGX21,961	$6.46 STD144K	+21.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.68 UGX177K	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,361.98 UGX30M	$24,634.18 STD549M	+234.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.94 UGX12,181	$22.43 STD500K	+661.8%
Average			+132.8%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.4% more for housing

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 UGX143K	$66.91 STD1M	+93.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$482.64 UGX2M	$284.91 STD6M	-41.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$167.36 UGX692K	$195.02 STD4M	+16.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.08 UGX220K	$174.83 STD4M	+229.4%
Average			+6.4%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 50.9% less for childcare

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$251.43 UGX1M	$228.62 STD5M	-9.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,279.19 UGX34M	$2,194.77 STD49M	-73.5%
Average			-50.9%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.23 UGX5,075	$1.70 STD37,799	+38.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 UGX10,471	$2.26 STD50,442	-10.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.45 UGX10,151	$2.26 STD50,420	-7.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.21 UGX228K	$33.92 STD756K	-38.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.36 UGX30,452	$20.16 STD449K	+173.8%
Average			+17.9%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.2% more for clothing

	Kampala	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.80 UGX57,098	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$12.88 UGX53,292	$75.02 STD2M	+482.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$31.90 UGX132K	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$43.25 UGX179K	$18.36 STD409K	-57.5%
Average			+57.2%

Kampala vs. Sao Tome - 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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