Cost of living comparison

Vanuatu

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Port Vila Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 57.7% cheaper than Port Vila.

Restaurants: pay 36.3% less in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 34.4% less in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 12.6% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 80.3% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 65.8% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.1% less in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 55.1% less in Sao Tome

Expenses including housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, clothing, restaurants, and groceries are lower in Sao Tome.

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Sao Tome vs. Port Vila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Port Vila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.3% less for restaurants

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.67 VUV1,500	$8.96 STD200K	-29.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.35 VUV1,700	$7.89 STD176K	-45.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 VUV270	$1.84 STD41,004	-19.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 VUV279	$1.25 STD27,770	-47.1%
Average			-36.3%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.4% less for groceries

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 VUV230	$1.00 STD22,187	-48.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.86 VUV1,050	$9.80 STD218K	+10.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.63 VUV1,259	$5.87 STD131K	-44.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.23 VUV737	$4.85 STD108K	-22.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.40 VUV877	$8.89 STD198K	+20.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 VUV384	$1.70 STD37,881	-47.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$0.79 STD17,644	-17.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 VUV211	$1.63 STD36,419	-8.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.21 VUV499	$1.57 STD34,958	-62.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$4.02 VUV476	$1.31 STD29,299	-67.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.57 VUV186	$1.08 STD23,986	-31.4%
Average			-34.4%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% more for transportation

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.78 VUV803	$6.46 STD144K	-4.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.55 VUV8,000	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,220.47 VUV3M	$24,634.18 STD549M	+6.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.29 VUV1,100	$22.43 STD500K	+141.5%
Average			+12.6%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 80.3% less for housing

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$363.08 VUV43,000	$66.91 STD1M	-81.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,579.90 VUV187K	$284.91 STD6M	-82.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,131.05 VUV134K	$195.02 STD4M	-82.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$484.28 VUV57,353	$174.83 STD4M	-63.9%
Average			-80.3%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 65.8% less for childcare

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$624.84 VUV74,000	$228.62 STD5M	-63.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,873.26 VUV814K	$2,194.77 STD49M	-68.1%
Average			-65.8%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.07 VUV600	$1.70 STD37,799	-66.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.08 VUV483	$2.26 STD50,442	-44.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.29 VUV1,100	$2.26 STD50,420	-75.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.29 VUV8,088	$33.92 STD756K	-50.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$20.16 STD449K
Average			-58.1%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.1% less for clothing

	Port Vila	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.99 VUV4,854	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.55 VUV8,000	$75.02 STD2M	+11.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.40 VUV9,995	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.28 VUV11,995	$18.36 STD409K	-81.9%
Average			-55.1%

Port Vila vs. Sao Tome - 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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