Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 54.2% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.3% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 1.8% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 31.4% less in Japan
Housing: pay 17.7% more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.1% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 4.6 times more in Japan

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

Japan vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.3% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD651K	$6.60 ¥1,055	-77.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260K	$5.10 ¥814	-56.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$1.07 ¥170	-44.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$0.76 ¥122	-34.9%
Average			-53.3%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.8% more for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$1.50 ¥240	+38.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD228K	$5.07 ¥809	-50.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD133K	$5.67 ¥905	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD114K	$2.08 ¥332	-59.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD207K	$2.93 ¥468	-68.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$2.14 ¥341	+0.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$1.12 ¥179	+111.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$1.69 ¥270	-8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$2.13 ¥340	+34.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$1.22 ¥194	+2.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$1.15 ¥184	+24.4%
Average			+1.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.4% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD143K	$4.39 ¥701	-31.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$59.14 ¥9,448
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,599.51 ¥4M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$25.32 ¥4,045
Average			-31.4%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.7% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD2M	$33.91 ¥5,418	-53.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD8M	$543.18 ¥86,771	+55.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5M	$353.61 ¥56,488	+51.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$118.72 ¥18,964
Average			+17.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$296.89 ¥47,426
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$13,159.48 ¥2M

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$2.60 ¥416	+56.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.03 ¥483	+29.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.89 ¥621	+66.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD833K	$59.54 ¥9,511	+59.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468K	$12.46 ¥1,991	-40.7%
Average			+34.1%

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

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pay 4.6 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$44.79 ¥7,156
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$32.04 ¥5,118
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$57.37 ¥9,164
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD427K	$87.37 ¥13,957	+356.1%
Average			+356.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan - 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: March 2026

Compare further: Sao Tome and Principe vs. Japan

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Make 8.4 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 392 times smaller than Japan.

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