Cost of living comparison

Lesotho

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 75.8% more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 7.1% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 72.2% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 43.4% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 3.2 times more in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.8% more in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 59.4% less in Sao Tome

The cost of housing, childcare, groceries, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Sao Tome are more expensive than in Maseru. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Sao Tome.

Planning a move to Sao Tome and Principe? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Sao Tome vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Maseru, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.1% more for restaurants

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.01 LSL148.38	$8.96 STD200K	-0.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.41 LSL138.49	$7.89 STD176K	-6.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 LSL17.56	$1.84 STD41,004	+72.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 LSL13.85	$1.25 STD27,770	+48.2%
Average			+7.1%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 72.2% more for groceries

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$0.83 LSL13.60	$1.00 STD22,187	+20.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 LSL54.39	$9.80 STD218K	+196.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.38 LSL72.07	$5.87 STD131K	+34.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.54 LSL25.32	$4.85 STD108K	+215.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.79 LSL45.98	$8.89 STD198K	+218.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 LSL14.02	$1.70 STD37,881	+99.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 LSL16.71	$0.79 STD17,644	-22.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.23 LSL20.19	$1.63 STD36,419	+33.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 LSL17.95	$1.57 STD34,958	+43.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 LSL11.66	$1.31 STD29,299	+85.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 LSL12.00	$1.08 STD23,986	+47.7%
Average			+72.2%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.4% more for transportation

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 LSL81.93	$6.46 STD144K	+29.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.04 LSL494.60	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,030.86 LSL346K	$24,634.18 STD549M	+17.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.01 LSL98.92	$22.43 STD500K	+273.3%
Average			+43.4%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.2 times more for housing

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.30 LSL630.53	$66.91 STD1M	+74.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$93.14 LSL1,533.25	$284.91 STD6M	+205.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$55.58 LSL915.01	$195.02 STD4M	+250.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$174.83 STD4M
Average			+215.7%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$52.06 LSL857.06	$228.62 STD5M	+339.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,181.73 LSL19,454.17	$2,194.77 STD49M	+85.7%
Average			+185.6%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.80 LSL29.68	$1.70 STD37,799	-5.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 LSL32.97	$2.26 STD50,442	+13.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.11 LSL84.08	$2.26 STD50,420	-55.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.03 LSL379.19	$33.92 STD756K	+47.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$20.16 STD449K
Average			+3.8%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.4% less for clothing

	Maseru	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.07 LSL758.38	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.58 LSL915.01	$75.02 STD2M	+35.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.15 LSL1,714.61	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.22 LSL2,472.99	$18.36 STD409K	-87.8%
Average			-59.4%

Maseru vs. Sao Tome - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Maseru vs. Sao Tome

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sao Tome?

More cost comparisons

Maseru vs.

Warsaw

Maseru vs.

Reykjavik

Maseru vs.

Washington

Maseru vs.

Vienna

Maseru vs.

London

Maseru vs.

Bangkok

Maseru vs.

Ottawa

Maseru vs.

Cairo

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Lesotho vs. Sao Tome and Principe. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Lesotho and Sao Tome and Principe.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Maseru

Add prices for Sao Tome

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sao Tome or Maseru. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.