Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Nicaragua

Nicaragua vs. Rwanda Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 4.7% more expensive than Rwanda overall.

Restaurants: pay 58.5% more in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 78.2% more in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 42.1% less in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 39.3% less in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 15.4% more in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.4% more in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 4.3 times more in Nicaragua

The cost of clothing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and childcare in Nicaragua are more expensive than in Rwanda. Expenses including transportation and housing are lower in Nicaragua. Notably, clothing and groceries are significantly more expensive in Nicaragua.

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Nicaragua vs. Rwanda Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Rwanda, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.5% more for restaurants

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$7.07 NIO260.53	+160.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$6.94 NIO255.89	+2.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.86 NIO31.77	+10.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.62 NIO22.88	+11.1%
Average			+58.5%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 78.2% more for groceries

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.71 NIO62.93	+63.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$3.70 NIO136.25	+75.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$4.65 NIO171.26	+46.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$2.34 NIO86.37	+43.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$2.55 NIO93.99	+22.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$1.82 NIO67.08	+66.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.27 NIO10.03	-23.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$0.82 NIO30.09	+18.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$1.11 NIO40.73	+131.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$1.68 NIO61.77	+643.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$1.01 NIO37.13	+198.4%
Average			+78.2%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.1% less for transportation

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$5.05 NIO186.17	-27.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$6.01 NIO221.41	-76.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$22,973.64 NIO847K	-11.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$13.49 NIO497.29	-28.9%
Average			-42.1%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.3% less for housing

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	+54.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	-55.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	-40.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	+7.6%
Average			-39.3%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 15.4% more for childcare

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	+108.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$6,060.00 NIO223K	-36.3%
Average			+15.4%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$1.40 NIO51.60	+37.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$2.60 NIO95.82	+7.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$2.73 NIO100.51	+34.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	+21.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$9.00 NIO331.69	+165.7%
Average			+49.4%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.3 times more for clothing

	Rwanda	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+244.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+317.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+451.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+327.6%
Average			+329.0%

Rwanda vs. Nicaragua - 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

Compare further: Rwanda vs. Nicaragua

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Nicaragua?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 2.8 times more money in Nicaragua

Size Comparison · See true size

Rwanda is about 5 times smaller than Nicaragua.

Moving from Rwanda to Nicaragua · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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