Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 80.6% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.5% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 0.5% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 14.5% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 78.6% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.1% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 4.9 times more in Costa Rica

The cost of clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Sao Tome and Principe. Expenses including transportation, restaurants, and groceries are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, clothing and housing are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.5% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD650,623	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	-66.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260,249	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	-18.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$2.00 CRC995.21	+4.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$1.57 CRC781.41	+34.6%
Average			-11.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.5% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	+135.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD227,718	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-56.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD132,995	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	+26.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD113,503	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-45.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD206,583	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	-58.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$1.78 CRC886.81	-15.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.62 CRC305.74	+16.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$1.65 CRC819.01	-11.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$1.24 CRC617.46	-21.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$1.28 CRC635.24	+7.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$1.10 CRC547.12	+18.7%
Average			-0.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.5% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD142,518	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-14.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$54.59 CRC27,137.81
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.68 CRC7,794.48
Average			-14.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.6% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD1,613,544	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-32.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD7,807,473	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+129.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5,204,982	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+138.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$63.57 CRC31,602.67
Average			+78.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$517.09 CRC257,060.35
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	+54.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+64.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	+101.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD832,797	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+57.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468,448	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	-56.7%
Average			+44.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.9 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.22 CRC28,941.22
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.70 CRC22,222.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$112.79 CRC56,072.28
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD426,809	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	+387.6%
Average			+387.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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