Cost of living comparison

Equatorial Guinea

compared to

Panama

Panama City vs. Malabo Cost of Living Summary

Panama City is 2.1 times more expensive than Malabo.

Restaurants: pay 38.7% more in Panama City
Groceries: pay 11.4% more in Panama City
Transportation: pay 29.2% less in Panama City
Housing: pay 3.9 times more in Panama City
Childcare: pay 28.2 times more in Panama City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.3% more in Panama City

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Panama City are more expensive than in Malabo. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Panama City.

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Panama City vs. Malabo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Panama City instead of Malabo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.7% more for restaurants

	Malabo	Panama City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.54 FCFA4,999	$11.50 PAB11.50	+34.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.54 FCFA4,999	$8.00 PAB8.00	-6.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 FCFA500	$1.97 PAB1.97	+131.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 FCFA250	$1.60 PAB1.60	+274.9%
Average			+38.7%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.4% more for groceries

	Malabo	Panama City
Bread 1 loaf	??	$2.52 PAB2.52
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 FCFA1,973	$6.18 PAB6.18	+83.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.34 FCFA6,056	$7.09 PAB7.09	-31.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 FCFA2,200	$2.75 PAB2.75	-26.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 FCFA1,588	$3.07 PAB3.07	+13.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 FCFA635	$1.87 PAB1.87	+72.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 FCFA454	$0.82 PAB0.82	+6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.92 PAB1.92
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.86 PAB1.86
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.55 PAB1.55
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.96 PAB1.96
Average			+11.4%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.2% less for transportation

	Malabo	Panama City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.62 PAB4.62
Monthly public transit pass	$26.40 FCFA15,461	$21.00 PAB21.00	-20.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,056.06 FCFA19M	$21,262.00 PAB21,262.00	-35.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$16.98 PAB16.98
Average			-29.2%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.9 times more for housing

	Malabo	Panama City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$48.70 PAB48.70
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,262.50 PAB1,262.50
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$223.95 FCFA131K	$874.18 PAB874.18	+290.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$100.29 PAB100.29
Average			+290.4%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of housing

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pay 28.2 times more for childcare

	Malabo	Panama City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$543.33 PAB543.33
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$341.40 FCFA200K	$9,641.50 PAB9,641.50	+2724.1%
Average			+2724.1%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Malabo	Panama City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.71 FCFA1,000	$3.30 PAB3.30	+93.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.69 FCFA2,749	$4.11 PAB4.11	-12.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.52 FCFA2,648	$6.00 PAB6.00	+32.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.14 FCFA19,996	$46.40 PAB46.40	+35.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.39 FCFA3,156	$8.50 PAB8.50	+57.7%
Average			+38.3%

Malabo vs. Panama City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Malabo	Panama City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$66.67 PAB66.67
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$48.43 PAB48.43
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$94.62 PAB94.62
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$111.67 PAB111.67

Malabo vs. Panama City - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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See the cost of living in Equatorial Guinea vs. Panama. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Equatorial Guinea and Panama.

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