Cost of living comparison

compared to

Gaborone vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 40.2% more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 41.5% more in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 48.9% more in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 5.3% more in Gaborone
Housing: pay 24.0% more in Gaborone
Childcare: pay 33.0% less in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 65.9% more in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in Gaborone

The cost of clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, housing, and transportation in Gaborone are more expensive than in Kigali. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Gaborone.

Gaborone vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Gaborone instead of Kigali, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.5% more for restaurants

	Kigali	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.45 RWF5,016	$10.33 BWP137.19	+199.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.89 RWF10,031	$6.01 BWP79.82	-12.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 RWF1,248	$0.82 BWP10.88	-4.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 RWF833	$0.48 BWP6.39	-16.0%
Average			+41.5%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.9% more for groceries

	Kigali	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,521	$0.86 BWP11.40	-17.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.26 RWF3,283	$3.42 BWP45.46	+51.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.64 RWF3,845	$5.53 BWP73.48	+109.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.65 RWF2,407	$2.32 BWP30.88	+40.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.10 RWF3,048	$2.34 BWP31.11	+11.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 RWF1,678	$0.80 BWP10.59	-30.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 RWF537	$0.65 BWP8.63	+76.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.70 RWF1,021	$0.80 BWP10.63	+14.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF698	$0.73 BWP9.72	+52.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF331	$0.64 BWP8.54	+182.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.39 RWF569	$0.58 BWP7.69	+48.0%
Average			+48.9%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.3% more for transportation

	Kigali	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.42 RWF6,434	$4.28 BWP56.92	-3.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.30 RWF42,632	$30.79 BWP409.08	+5.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,543.61 RWF38,619,482	$20,652.69 BWP274,382.03	-22.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.48 RWF21,065	$20.46 BWP271.89	+41.3%
Average			+5.3%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 24.0% more for housing

	Kigali	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.48 RWF28,338	$52.19 BWP693.44	+168.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$575.44 RWF837,239	$262.85 BWP3,492.13	-54.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$322.51 RWF469,235	$160.93 BWP2,138.04	-50.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.98 RWF58,170	$52.95 BWP703.47	+32.4%
Average			+24.0%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay 33.0% less for childcare

	Kigali	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.62 RWF242,417	$147.01 BWP1,953.10	-11.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,842.43 RWF11,410,301	$3,593.57 BWP47,742.47	-54.2%
Average			-33.0%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 65.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 RWF1,505	$2.25 BWP29.93	+117.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 RWF3,366	$2.30 BWP30.49	-0.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.72 RWF2,508	$3.68 BWP48.89	+113.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.41 RWF45,697	$32.35 BWP429.75	+3.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.45 RWF5,016	$6.76 BWP89.80	+96.1%
Average			+65.9%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Kigali	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.19 RWF27,920	$46.00 BWP611.12	+139.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.30 RWF28,087	$24.41 BWP324.27	+26.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.98 RWF33,437	$71.82 BWP954.10	+212.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.92 RWF55,171	$90.12 BWP1,197.30	+137.7%
Average			+129.1%

Kigali vs. Gaborone - Cost of clothing

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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

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