Cost of living comparison

compared to

Addis Ababa vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 98.0% more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 3.1% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 73.0% more in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 4.5% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 3.2 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.3% more in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 3.3 times more in Addis Ababa

The cost of clothing, housing, childcare, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Addis Ababa are more expensive than in Kigali. Expenses including transportation and restaurants are lower in Addis Ababa. Notably, clothing, housing, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of Kigali, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1% less for restaurants

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.45 RWF5,000	$4.26 ETB655.54	+23.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.89 RWF9,999	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	-5.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 RWF1,244	$0.61 ETB93.51	-29.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 RWF830	$0.57 ETB87.20	-1.0%
Average			-3.1%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 73.0% more for groceries

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,517	$1.26 ETB193.73	+20.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.26 RWF3,273	$4.34 ETB667.36	+92.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.64 RWF3,833	$5.42 ETB834.53	+105.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.65 RWF2,400	$2.28 ETB351.02	+37.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.10 RWF3,039	$5.76 ETB886.79	+175.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 RWF1,673	$3.08 ETB473.48	+166.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 RWF535	$0.43 ETB66.40	+16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.70 RWF1,018	$1.06 ETB162.78	+50.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF695	$0.40 ETB62.30	-15.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF330	$0.28 ETB42.45	+21.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.39 RWF567	$0.91 ETB139.43	+131.8%
Average			+73.0%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.5% less for transportation

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.42 RWF6,414	$4.81 ETB740.52	+8.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.30 RWF42,498	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	-59.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,543.61 RWF38,497,764	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	+107.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.48 RWF20,999	$3.62 ETB556.29	-75.0%
Average			-4.5%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.2 times more for housing

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.48 RWF28,248	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	+568.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$575.44 RWF834,601	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	+41.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$322.51 RWF467,756	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	+58.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.98 RWF57,987	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	+205.1%
Average			+218.6%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.62 RWF241,653	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	-43.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,842.43 RWF11,374,339	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	+284.9%
Average			+120.6%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 RWF1,500	$0.90 ETB138.50	-13.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 RWF3,355	$1.09 ETB167.35	-53.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.72 RWF2,500	$5.10 ETB784.81	+195.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.41 RWF45,553	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	+97.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.45 RWF5,000	$3.75 ETB577.06	+8.8%
Average			+47.3%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.3 times more for clothing

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.19 RWF27,832	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	+134.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.30 RWF27,998	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	+289.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.98 RWF33,331	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	+309.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.92 RWF54,997	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	+203.5%
Average			+234.2%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Kigali vs.

Ottawa

Kigali vs.

Rome

Kigali vs.

Berlin

Kigali vs.

Hong Kong

Kigali vs.

Ankara

Kigali vs.

Madrid

Kigali vs.

Delhi

Kigali vs.

Canberra

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Rwanda vs. Ethiopia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Kigali

Add prices for Addis Ababa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Addis Ababa or Kigali. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.