Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 18.6% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 55.8% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 38.1% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 30.2% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 5.7% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 92.5% more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.0% less in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 31.1% more in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.8% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$3.42 MYR13.98	-61.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$4.64 MYR18.95	-41.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.75 MYR3.07	-59.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.42 MYR1.72	-66.2%
Average			-55.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.1% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.10 MYR4.49	+10.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$6.94 MYR28.32	-29.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.18 MYR29.31	+22.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.09 MYR8.53	-57.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$1.90 MYR7.75	-78.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.35 MYR5.53	-20.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.73 MYR2.97	-8.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.19 MYR4.84	-27.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.69 MYR2.83	-55.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.57 MYR2.34	-56.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.61 MYR2.50	-43.2%
Average			-38.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.2% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$2.76 MYR11.29	-57.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$15.28 MYR62.39
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+65.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$6.46 MYR26.37	-71.2%
Average			-30.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.7% less for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$27.60 MYR112.71	-58.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	+27.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	+35.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$36.69 MYR149.79	-79.0%
Average			-5.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 92.5% more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$231.07 MYR943.51	+1.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	+266.5%
Average			+92.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$3.61 MYR14.73	+112.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.76 MYR11.29	+22.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$4.35 MYR17.74	+92.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$38.82 MYR158.52	+14.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$4.73 MYR19.31	-76.5%
Average			-7.0%

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

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pay 31.1% more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.43 MYR238.60
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$30.42 MYR124.22	-59.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$77.72 MYR317.35
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$77.79 MYR317.65	+323.6%
Average			+31.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malaysia - 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. Malaysia

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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 3.2 times more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 342 times smaller than Malaysia.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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