Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 29.7% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 29.6% more in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 45.2% more in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 43.9% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 64.7% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 69.4% less in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.4% less in Sao Tome
Clothing: pay 50.6% less in Sao Tome

The cost of groceries, transportation, and restaurants in Sao Tome are more expensive than in Riyadh. Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Sao Tome.

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Sao Tome vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.6% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$8.96 STD200K	+12.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$7.89 STD176K	-1.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.84 STD41,004	+110.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$1.25 STD27,770	+297.5%
Average			+29.6%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.2% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.00 STD22,187	-22.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$9.80 STD218K	+85.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$5.87 STD131K	-13.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$4.85 STD108K	+57.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$8.89 STD198K	+105.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.70 STD37,881	+30.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.79 STD17,644	-9.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$1.63 STD36,419	+45.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.57 STD34,958	+97.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.31 STD29,299	+141.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.08 STD23,986	+82.7%
Average			+45.2%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.9% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$6.46 STD144K	+174.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$24,634.18 STD549M	-28.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$22.43 STD500K	+23.8%
Average			+43.9%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.7% less for housing

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$66.91 STD1M	-6.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$284.91 STD6M	-76.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$195.02 STD4M	-76.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$174.83 STD4M	+113.6%
Average			-64.7%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 69.4% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$228.62 STD5M	-56.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$2,194.77 STD49M	-78.3%
Average			-69.4%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$1.70 STD37,799	-20.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$2.26 STD50,442	-47.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$2.26 STD50,420	-70.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$33.92 STD756K	-62.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$20.16 STD449K	+51.3%
Average			-35.4%

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.6% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$75.02 STD2M	+38.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$18.36 STD409K	-82.3%
Average			-50.6%

Riyadh 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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