Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

Zambia

Zambia vs. Rwanda Cost of Living Summary

Zambia is 5.3% cheaper than Rwanda overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.3% more in Zambia
Groceries: pay 89.9% more in Zambia
Transportation: pay 27.0% less in Zambia
Housing: pay 48.9% less in Zambia
Childcare: pay 46.4% more in Zambia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.6% more in Zambia
Clothing: pay 55.0% more in Zambia

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

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Zambia vs. Rwanda Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.3% more for restaurants

	Rwanda	Zambia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$5.53 ZMW110.20	+104.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-25.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.63 ZMW12.52	-19.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.36 ZMW7.20	-35.3%
Average			+16.3%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 89.9% more for groceries

	Rwanda	Zambia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.18 ZMW23.48	+12.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$5.15 ZMW102.63	+144.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$6.37 ZMW126.88	+101.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$1.77 ZMW35.36	+8.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$2.87 ZMW57.22	+37.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$1.11 ZMW22.03	+1.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$1.10 ZMW21.94	+211.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+139.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$0.70 ZMW13.88	+45.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+416.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+145.4%
Average			+89.9%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.0% less for transportation

	Rwanda	Zambia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$5.47 ZMW108.98	-21.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$50.15 ZMW999.41	+97.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-71.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$14.58 ZMW290.52	-23.1%
Average			-27.0%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.9% less for housing

	Rwanda	Zambia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	+161.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	-57.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	-60.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	-4.4%
Average			-48.9%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of housing

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pay 46.4% more for childcare

	Rwanda	Zambia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	+22.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	+74.9%
Average			+46.4%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Rwanda	Zambia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$1.26 ZMW25.05	+23.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+16.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$3.02 ZMW60.11	+48.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	+104.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$6.03 ZMW120.22	+78.1%
Average			+54.6%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.0% more for clothing

	Rwanda	Zambia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$23.28 ZMW463.85	+33.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$15.45 ZMW307.88	-0.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$45.19 ZMW900.42	+103.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	+114.1%
Average			+55.0%

Rwanda vs. Zambia - 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. Zambia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Zambia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Be 2.2 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Zambia

Size Comparison · See true size

Rwanda is about 29 times smaller than Zambia.

Moving from Rwanda to Zambia · UN DESA 2020

9,202 people born in Rwanda live in Zambia.

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