Cost of living comparison

Madagascar

compared to

Rwanda

Rwanda vs. Madagascar Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 33.9% more expensive than Madagascar overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.1% more in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 2.5% more in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 69.0% more in Rwanda
Housing: pay 93.5% more in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 69.1% more in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.1% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 53.4% less in Rwanda

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

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Rwanda vs. Madagascar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Rwanda instead of Madagascar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.1% more for restaurants

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 MGA12,217	$2.71 RWF4,005
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.65 MGA25,453	$6.77 RWF10,013	+20.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 MGA3,563	$0.78 RWF1,155	-1.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 MGA1,968	$0.56 RWF826	+28.0%
Average			+9.1%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5% more for groceries

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 MGA4,618	$1.05 RWF1,548	+2.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.23 MGA19,053	$2.11 RWF3,115	-50.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 MGA16,668	$3.16 RWF4,675	-14.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 MGA9,239	$1.63 RWF2,412	-20.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MGA9,115	$2.08 RWF3,078	+3.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.49 MGA2,217	$1.09 RWF1,618	+122.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.26 MGA1,155	$0.35 RWF522	+38.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.47 MGA2,117	$0.69 RWF1,019	+46.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 MGA1,748	$0.48 RWF707	+23.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 MGA1,193	$0.23 RWF333	-14.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 MGA1,963	$0.34 RWF499	-22.4%
Average			+2.5%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 69.0% more for transportation

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.39 MGA19,774	$7.00 RWF10,345	+59.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$25.40 RWF37,550
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,971.37 MGA54M	$26,080.15 RWF39M	+117.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.65 MGA88,575	$18.97 RWF28,037	-3.5%
Average			+69.0%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 93.5% more for housing

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$57.15 MGA258K	$21.00 RWF31,041	-63.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$325.82 MGA1M	$666.07 RWF985K	+104.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$150.37 MGA678K	$413.79 RWF612K	+175.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$56.66 MGA255K	$64.32 RWF95,077	+13.5%
Average			+93.5%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

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pay 69.1% more for childcare

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.03 MGA113K	$112.90 RWF167K	+351.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,998.31 MGA68M	$9,510.48 RWF14M	-36.6%
Average			+69.1%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 MGA4,581	$1.02 RWF1,502
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.65 MGA7,447	$2.42 RWF3,578	+46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.58 MGA7,127	$2.03 RWF3,004	+28.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.61 MGA133K	$26.72 RWF39,497	-9.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.65 MGA25,453	$3.39 RWF5,007	-40.0%
Average			-5.1%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 53.4% less for clothing

	Madagascar	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.03 MGA131K	$17.39 RWF25,701	-40.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.67 MGA125K	$15.58 RWF23,031	-43.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.50 MGA349K	$22.24 RWF32,877	-71.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.58 MGA314K	$33.87 RWF50,067	-51.3%
Average			-53.4%

Madagascar vs. Rwanda - 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

Compare further: Madagascar vs. Rwanda

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 3.7 times more likely to be unemployed in Rwanda

Size Comparison · See true size

Madagascar is about 22 times bigger than Rwanda.

Moving from Madagascar to Rwanda · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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