Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sao Tome vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 52.6% more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants
pay 8.4% less in Sao Tome
Groceries
pay 20.3% more in Sao Tome
Housing
pay 2.6 times more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports
pay 51.6% less in Sao Tome

The cost of housing and groceries in Sao Tome are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Expenses including entertainment and sports and restaurants are lower in Sao Tome. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Sao Tome.

Sao Tome vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of P'yongyang, you would:

pay 8.4% less for restaurants

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.81
KPW4,327
$8.96
STD200K
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$21.26
KPW19,136
$7.89
STD176K
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.21
KPW1,985
$1.84
STD41,004

Improve prices ·

pay 20.3% more for groceries

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Bread
1 loaf
$2.30
KPW2,071
$1.00
STD22,187
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $9.80
STD218K
Milk (1 gallon) $3.55
KPW3,195
$5.87
STD131K

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $6.46
STD144K
Monthly public transit pass ?? ??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $24,634.18
STD549M

Improve prices ·

pay 2.6 times more for housing

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $66.91
STD1M
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $89.58
KPW80,621
$284.91
STD6M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $89.58
KPW80,621
$195.02
STD4M

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $228.62
STD5M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $2,194.77
STD49M

Improve prices ·

pay 51.6% less for entertainment and sports

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $13.44
KPW12,093
$1.70
STD37,799
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.12
KPW1,008
$2.26
STD50,442
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $2.26
STD50,420

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
P'yongyang
Sao Tome
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? ??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $75.02
STD2M
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? ??

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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