Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 19.6% more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 2.7 times more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 3.7% less in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 35.1% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 31.6% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 83.2% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 61.6% more in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$8.96 STD200K	+230.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$7.89 STD176K	+16.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$1.84 STD41,004	+135.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$1.25 STD27,770	+123.0%
Average			+113.2%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7 times more for groceries

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.00 STD22,187	-4.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$9.80 STD218K	+364.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$5.87 STD131K	+85.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$4.85 STD108K	+197.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$8.89 STD198K	+326.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$1.70 STD37,881	+55.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.79 STD17,644	+124.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$1.63 STD36,419	+137.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$1.57 STD34,958	+228.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$1.31 STD29,299	+483.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$1.08 STD23,986	+218.8%
Average			+168.6%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% less for transportation

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$6.46 STD144K	-7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$24,634.18 STD549M	-5.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$22.43 STD500K	+18.3%
Average			-3.7%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.1% less for housing

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$66.91 STD1M	+218.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$284.91 STD6M	-57.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$195.02 STD4M	-52.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$174.83 STD4M	+171.8%
Average			-35.1%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 31.6% less for childcare

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$228.62 STD5M	+102.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$2,194.77 STD49M	-76.9%
Average			-31.6%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 83.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$1.70 STD37,799	+67.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$2.26 STD50,442	-6.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$2.26 STD50,420	+11.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$33.92 STD756K	+26.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$20.16 STD449K	+495.1%
Average			+83.2%

Kigali vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 61.6% more for clothing

	Kigali	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$75.02 STD2M	+381.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$18.36 STD409K	-45.8%
Average			+61.6%

Kigali 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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