Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 26.1% more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 16.4% more in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 28.0% more in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 20.6% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 28.9% more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 95.8% more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.8% more in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 2.9 times more in Addis Ababa

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

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Addis Ababa vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.4% more for restaurants

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$4.00 ETB654.34	+47.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	-4.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.61 ETB99.06	-22.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.66 ETB107.50	+17.6%
Average			+16.4%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% more for groceries

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.19 ETB194.58	+13.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$3.70 ETB604.57	+75.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$4.09 ETB669.40	+29.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$1.77 ETB289.63	+8.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$4.59 ETB750.34	+120.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$2.44 ETB399.44	+123.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.30 ETB48.73	-15.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$0.99 ETB161.65	+43.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$0.31 ETB50.42	-35.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$0.22 ETB35.99	-2.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$0.49 ETB79.77	+44.4%
Average			+28.0%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.6% less for transportation

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$3.53 ETB577.22	-49.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	-16.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$55,000.00 ETB9M	+110.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$3.53 ETB576.64	-81.4%
Average			-20.6%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.9% more for housing

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+911.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$706.95 ETB116K	+6.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	-4.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+143.7%
Average			+28.9%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 95.8% more for childcare

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	+20.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+217.4%
Average			+95.8%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$0.80 ETB130.87	-21.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$0.92 ETB150.32	-62.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	+293.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	+65.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$3.75 ETB613.45	+10.7%
Average			+4.8%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.9 times more for clothing

	Kigali	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	+90.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	+354.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	+253.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	+144.2%
Average			+194.1%

Kigali vs. Addis Ababa - 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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