Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Cook Islands

Cook Islands vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 28.3% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.3% more in Cook Islands
Groceries: pay 23.9% more in Cook Islands
Transportation: pay 30.9% less in Cook Islands
Housing: pay 50.5% more in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5 times more in Cook Islands

The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and restaurants in Cook Islands are more expensive than in Sao Tome and Principe. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Cook Islands.

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Cook Islands vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.3% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$14.01 NZ$24.77	+56.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$5.60 NZ$9.91	-29.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.24 NZ$3.96	+21.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$2.24 NZ$3.96	+79.8%
Average			+17.3%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.9% more for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$2.80 NZ$4.95	+181.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$3.64 NZ$6.44	-62.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$10.60 NZ$18.75	+80.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$6.05 NZ$10.70	+24.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	??
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	??
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	??
Average			+23.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.9% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$6.38 NZ$11.29	-1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$11,204.09 NZ$19,812.72	-54.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	??
Average			-30.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.5% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$102.89 NZ$181.95	+53.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$448.16 NZ$792.51	+57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$448.16 NZ$792.51	+129.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$74.97 NZ$132.57	-57.1%
Average			+50.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	??

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$5.04 NZ$8.92	+197.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.36 NZ$5.94	+48.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$11.20 NZ$19.81	+395.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	??
Average			+149.4%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Cook Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	??

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Cook Islands - 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. Cook Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 10 statistics

Live 7.2 years longer in Cook Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 4.1 times bigger than Cook Islands.

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

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