Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 50.2% cheaper than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 25.3% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 3.0% more in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 59.0% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 75.9% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 84.6% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.1% more in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 54.8% more in Thimphu

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

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Thimphu vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.3% less for restaurants

	Kigali	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$2.58 BTN245.70	-4.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$4.91 BTN466.83	-27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.50 BTN47.50	-36.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.18 BTN17.20	-67.6%
Average			-25.3%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.0% more for groceries

	Kigali	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.07 BTN101.96	+2.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$1.88 BTN178.54	-10.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$3.03 BTN288.32	-4.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$1.88 BTN178.87	+15.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$1.79 BTN170.51	-13.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$1.15 BTN109.22	+5.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.69 BTN65.75	+95.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$0.73 BTN69.10	+5.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$0.33 BTN31.76	-30.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$0.26 BTN24.52	+14.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$0.31 BTN29.53	-8.0%
Average			+3.0%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

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pay 59.0% less for transportation

	Kigali	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$2.79 BTN264.82	-60.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$5.17 BTN491.40	-79.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-36.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	-30.5%
Average			-59.0%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.9% less for housing

	Kigali	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	+15.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-80.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	-79.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	-59.9%
Average			-75.9%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

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pay 84.6% less for childcare

	Kigali	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	-60.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	-94.0%
Average			-84.6%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$2.58 BTN245.70	+154.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$1.28 BTN121.21	-47.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$3.88 BTN368.55	+90.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	+74.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$3.10 BTN294.84	-8.4%
Average			+27.1%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 54.8% more for clothing

	Kigali	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	+187.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	+60.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	+202.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	-58.8%
Average			+54.8%

Kigali vs. Thimphu - 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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