Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 2.8% cheaper than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 86.0% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 53.7% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 23.2% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 27.8% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 64.2% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.2% less in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 41.5% less in Sao Tome

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

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Sao Tome vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 86.0% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$8.96 STD200K	+83.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$7.89 STD176K	+61.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$1.84 STD41,004	+127.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$1.25 STD27,770	+170.6%
Average			+86.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.7% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.00 STD22,187	-9.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$9.80 STD218K	+40.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$5.87 STD131K	-26.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$4.85 STD108K	+92.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$8.89 STD198K	+340.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$1.70 STD37,881	+9.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.79 STD17,644	-3.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$1.63 STD36,419	+57.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$1.57 STD34,958	+120.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$1.31 STD29,299	+122.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$1.08 STD23,986	+73.3%
Average			+53.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.2% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$6.46 STD144K	+100.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$24,634.18 STD549M	-41.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$22.43 STD500K	+103.7%
Average			+23.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.8% less for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$66.91 STD1M	+154.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$284.91 STD6M	-53.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$195.02 STD4M	-47.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$174.83 STD4M	+267.6%
Average			-27.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 64.2% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$228.62 STD5M	-23.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$2,194.77 STD49M	-83.3%
Average			-64.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$1.70 STD37,799	-61.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$2.26 STD50,442	-26.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.26 STD50,420	-48.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$33.92 STD756K	-30.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$20.16 STD449K	+301.8%
Average			-6.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.5% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$75.02 STD2M	+79.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$18.36 STD409K	-80.9%
Average			-41.5%

Kuala Lumpur 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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