Cost of living comparison

Antigua and Barbuda

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome vs. Saint John's Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome is 37.3% cheaper than Saint John's.

Restaurants: pay 28.6% less in Sao Tome
Groceries: pay 21.6% less in Sao Tome
Transportation: pay 5.7% more in Sao Tome
Housing: pay 64.9% less in Sao Tome
Childcare: pay 21.1% more in Sao Tome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.2% less in Sao Tome

The cost of childcare and transportation in Sao Tome are more expensive than in Saint John's. Expenses including housing, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Sao Tome.

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Sao Tome vs. Saint John's Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome instead of Saint John's, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.6% less for restaurants

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.65 EC$45.00	$8.96 STD200K	-46.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.25 EC$25.00	$7.89 STD176K	-14.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.95 EC$5.27	$1.84 STD41,004	-5.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 EC$3.25	$1.25 STD27,770	+3.6%
Average			-28.6%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.6% less for groceries

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Bread 1 loaf	$2.78 EC$7.50	$1.00 STD22,187	-64.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 EC$11.50	$9.80 STD218K	+130.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.40 EC$22.71	$5.87 STD131K	-30.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.66 EC$18.00	$4.85 STD108K	-27.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 EC$9.53	$8.89 STD198K	+152.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.96 EC$8.00	$1.70 STD37,881	-42.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.11 EC$3.00	$0.79 STD17,644	-28.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.63 STD36,419	-55.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.57 STD34,958	-57.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$1.31 STD29,299	+1.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$1.08 STD23,986	-16.9%
Average			-21.6%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.7% more for transportation

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.11 EC$16.50	$6.46 STD144K	+5.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$24,634.18 STD549M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$22.43 STD500K
Average			+5.7%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.9% less for housing

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$81.40 EC$220.00	$66.91 STD1M	-17.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,048.39 EC$2,833.33	$284.91 STD6M	-72.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$678.37 EC$1,833.33	$195.02 STD4M	-71.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$198.07 EC$535.29	$174.83 STD4M	-11.7%
Average			-64.9%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of housing

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pay 21.1% more for childcare

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$185.01 EC$500.00	$228.62 STD5M	+23.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,850.10 EC$5,000.00	$2,194.77 STD49M	+18.6%
Average			+21.1%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.41 EC$6.50	$1.70 STD37,799	-29.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 EC$10.00	$2.26 STD50,442	-38.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.26 STD50,420
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.75 EC$175.00	$33.92 STD756K	-47.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.29 EC$17.00	$20.16 STD449K	+220.4%
Average			-4.2%

Saint John's vs. Sao Tome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Saint John's	Sao Tome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.00 EC$135.13	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$75.02 STD2M
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.00 EC$200.00	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$18.36 STD409K

Saint John's 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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