Cost of living comparison

Portugal

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Portugal Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome and Principe is 32.0% cheaper than Portugal overall.

Restaurants: pay 22.3% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Groceries: pay 47.7% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Transportation: pay 13.5% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Housing: pay 60.0% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Childcare: pay 68.7% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.9% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Clothing: pay 40.9% less in Sao Tome and Principe

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

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 and Principe vs. Portugal Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Portugal, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.3% less for restaurants

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.01 €11.58	$8.96 STD200K	-31.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.54 €8.49	$7.89 STD176K	-17.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.90 €1.69	$1.84 STD41,004	-3.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.44 €1.28	$1.25 STD27,770	-13.7%
Average			-22.3%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.7% more for groceries

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.56 €1.39	$1.00 STD22,187	-36.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.65 €5.03	$9.80 STD218K	+73.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 €3.64	$5.87 STD131K	+43.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.28 €2.92	$4.85 STD108K	+47.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 €3.04	$8.89 STD198K	+159.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.02 €0.91	$1.70 STD37,881	+66.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 €0.58	$0.79 STD17,644	+22.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.74	$1.63 STD36,419	+97.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.97	$1.57 STD34,958	+43.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.79 €0.70	$1.31 STD29,299	+67.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.87 €0.77	$1.08 STD23,986	+24.2%
Average			+47.7%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.5% less for transportation

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.95 €7.08	$6.46 STD144K	-18.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.81 €33.65	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,409.36 €29,735.53	$24,634.18 STD549M	-26.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.87 €11.46	$22.43 STD500K	+74.3%
Average			-13.5%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 60.0% less for housing

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.38 €35.05	$66.91 STD1M	+69.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$962.54 €856.70	$284.91 STD6M	-70.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.06 €685.38	$195.02 STD4M	-74.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.27 €83.91	$174.83 STD4M	+85.4%
Average			-60.0%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 68.7% less for childcare

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$491.62 €437.56	$228.62 STD5M	-53.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,398.72 €9,255.23	$2,194.77 STD49M	-78.9%
Average			-68.7%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.77 €2.46	$1.70 STD37,799	-38.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 €1.83	$2.26 STD50,442	+10.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.15 €5.47	$2.26 STD50,420	-63.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.95 €39.11	$33.92 STD756K	-22.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.25 €7.34	$20.16 STD449K	+144.4%
Average			-1.9%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.9% less for clothing

	Portugal	Sao Tome and Principe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$80.47 €71.62	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.54 €33.41	$75.02 STD2M	+99.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.61 €77.08	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.16 €93.60	$18.36 STD409K	-82.5%
Average			-40.9%

Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe - 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: Portugal vs. Sao Tome and Principe

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sao Tome and Principe?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 87.3% less money in Sao Tome and Principe

Size Comparison · See true size

Portugal is about 96 times bigger than Sao Tome and Principe.

Moving from Portugal to Sao Tome and Principe · UN DESA 2020

104 people born in Portugal live in Sao Tome and Principe.

More cost comparisons

Portugal vs.

United Kingdom

Portugal vs.

Ireland

Portugal vs.

Canada

Portugal vs.

France

Portugal vs.

Switzerland

Portugal vs.

United States

Portugal vs.

Brazil

Portugal vs.

Germany

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Lisbon vs. Sao Tome

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 Portugal

Add prices for Sao Tome and Principe

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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