Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Syria

Damascus vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Damascus is 5.9% cheaper than Lusaka.

Restaurants: pay 73.4% more in Damascus
Groceries: pay 52.5% less in Damascus
Transportation: pay 10.8% more in Damascus
Housing: pay 23.6% more in Damascus
Childcare: pay 77.3% less in Damascus
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.0% less in Damascus
Clothing: pay 35.8% more in Damascus

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

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Damascus vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Damascus instead of Lusaka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.4% more for restaurants

	Lusaka	Damascus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$10.00 SYP130K	+80.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$7.00 SYP91,014	+39.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 ZMW15.03	$2.25 SYP29,254	+198.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZMW9.39	$0.85 SYP11,008	+79.6%
Average			+73.4%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.5% less for groceries

	Lusaka	Damascus
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ZMW23.92	$0.40 SYP5,199	-66.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$1.96 SYP25,477	-62.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 ZMW129.88	$4.03 SYP52,433	-38.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 ZMW38.66	$1.59 SYP20,653	-18.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$2.59 SYP33,645	-9.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 ZMW30.42	$0.47 SYP6,174	-68.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.63 SYP8,218	-42.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$0.51 SYP6,582	-69.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.47 SYP6,154	-32.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.35 SYP4,563	-69.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.35 SYP4,608	-57.2%
Average			-52.5%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.8% more for transportation

	Lusaka	Damascus
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZMW115.01	$13.98 SYP182K	+142.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$10.00 SYP130K	-80.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$15,000.00 SYP195M	+98.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$13.15 SYP171K	-9.8%
Average			+10.8%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.6% more for housing

	Lusaka	Damascus
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$46.25 SYP601K	-15.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	$523.33 SYP7M	+35.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	$186.00 SYP2M	+3.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$107.06 SYP1M	+74.0%
Average			+23.6%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of housing

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pay 77.3% less for childcare

	Lusaka	Damascus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$66.67 SYP867K	-51.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$1,780.73 SYP23M	-89.3%
Average			-77.3%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Lusaka	Damascus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$2.00 SYP26,004	+59.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$3.71 SYP48,293	+31.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$2.77 SYP36,000	-8.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$28.00 SYP364K	-48.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$5.50 SYP71,511	-8.8%
Average			-5.0%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.8% more for clothing

	Lusaka	Damascus
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$28.60 SYP372K	+22.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$40.00 SYP520K	+158.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$60.00 SYP780K	+32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$58.33 SYP758K	-19.6%
Average			+35.8%

Lusaka vs. Damascus - 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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