Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Bhutan

Bhutan vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Bhutan is 58.8% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 64.9% less in Bhutan
Groceries: pay 61.6% less in Bhutan
Transportation: pay 46.3% less in Bhutan
Housing: pay 62.8% less in Bhutan
Childcare: pay 77.4% less in Bhutan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.6% less in Bhutan
Clothing: pay 49.7% less in Bhutan

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, groceries, clothing, and transportation are lower in Bhutan.

Planning a move to Bhutan? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Bhutan vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.9% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$2.58 BTN245.70	-71.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$4.91 BTN466.83	-37.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.50 BTN47.50	-72.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.18 BTN17.20	-85.5%
Average			-64.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Bhutan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.07 BTN101.96	+7.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$1.88 BTN178.54	-80.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$3.03 BTN288.32	-48.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$1.88 BTN178.87	-61.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$1.79 BTN170.51	-79.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.15 BTN109.22	-32.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.69 BTN65.75	-12.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.73 BTN69.10	-55.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.33 BTN31.76	-78.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.26 BTN24.52	-80.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.31 BTN29.53	-71.1%
Average			-61.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Bhutan - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.3% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$2.79 BTN264.82	-56.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$5.17 BTN491.40
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-32.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	-41.2%
Average			-46.3%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Bhutan - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.8% less for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	-63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-55.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	-55.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	-85.2%
Average			-62.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Bhutan - Cost of housing

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pay 77.4% less for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	-80.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	-74.1%
Average			-77.4%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Bhutan - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$2.58 BTN245.70	+52.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$1.28 BTN121.21	-43.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$3.88 BTN368.55	+71.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	+37.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$3.10 BTN294.84	-84.6%
Average			-30.6%

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

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pay 49.7% less for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Bhutan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$49.97 BTN4,750.10
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	-66.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$67.21 BTN6,388.16
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	-24.0%
Average			-49.7%

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

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 64.6% less likely to be unemployed in Bhutan

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 40 times smaller than Bhutan.

Moving from Sao Tome and Principe to Bhutan · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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