Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Ecuador

Ecuador vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Ecuador is 23.9% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.7% less in Ecuador
Groceries: pay 54.2% less in Ecuador
Transportation: pay 39.7% less in Ecuador
Housing: pay 8.8% less in Ecuador
Childcare: pay 80.1% more in Ecuador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% less in Ecuador
Clothing: pay 50.6% more in Ecuador

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

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Ecuador vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.7% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$3.65	-59.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$6.99	-11.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.91	-50.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.70	-44.2%
Average			-43.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.2% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.78	+78.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$3.06	-68.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$4.06	-30.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.09	-56.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.26	-74.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.82	-51.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.49	-38.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.54	-66.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.46	-70.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.50	-61.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.43	-59.7%
Average			-54.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.7% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$2.94	-54.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$19.33
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$21,347.00	-13.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$12.14	-45.9%
Average			-39.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.8% less for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$27.65	-58.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$337.73	+18.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$242.44	+24.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$45.32	-74.1%
Average			-8.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - Cost of housing

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pay 80.1% more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$310.25	+35.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$5,243.49	+138.9%
Average			+80.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$2.38	+40.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.68	+18.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$5.40	+138.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$31.41	-7.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$6.28	-68.9%
Average			-11.6%

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

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pay 50.6% more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Ecuador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$61.22
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$41.01	-45.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$106.39
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$76.17	+314.8%
Average			+50.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Ecuador - 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. Ecuador

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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 74.5% more money in Ecuador

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 294 times smaller than Ecuador.

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

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