Cost of living comparison

compared to

Mexico vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Mexico is 56.9% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% less in Mexico
Groceries: pay 14.5% less in Mexico
Transportation: pay 21.8% less in Mexico
Housing: pay 32.7% more in Mexico
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.8% more in Mexico
Clothing: pay 4.6 times more in Mexico

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

Mexico vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD650,623	$10.13 MX$185.42	-65.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260,249	$8.37 MX$153.09	-28.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$1.38 MX$25.18	-28.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$1.04 MX$19.08	-10.7%
Average			-33.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.5% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$2.62 MX$47.88	+142.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD227,718	$4.26 MX$77.96	-58.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD132,995	$5.95 MX$108.83	-0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD113,503	$2.45 MX$44.82	-51.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD206,583	$3.68 MX$67.25	-60.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$1.27 MX$23.18	-40.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.67 MX$12.31	+27.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$0.93 MX$16.95	-50.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$0.83 MX$15.10	-48.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.90 MX$16.43	-24.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.98 MX$17.91	+5.6%
Average			-14.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.8% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD142,518	$5.00 MX$91.52	-21.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$28.70 MX$525.08
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$23,996.60 MX$439,017.76
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$19.51 MX$356.97
Average			-21.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.7% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD1,613,544	$29.35 MX$537.00	-59.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD7,807,473	$587.67 MX$10,751.35	+67.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5,204,982	$443.50 MX$8,113.74	+89.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$49.22 MX$900.56
Average			+32.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$236.91 MX$4,334.27
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$5,569.03 MX$101,885.42

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$2.44 MX$44.57	+45.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.34 MX$61.09	+42.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$4.42 MX$80.80	+89.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD832,797	$39.27 MX$718.39	+5.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468,448	$5.43 MX$99.41	-74.2%
Average			+21.8%

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

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pay 4.6 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Mexico
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$53.04 MX$970.34
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$40.66 MX$743.79
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$95.33 MX$1,744.14
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD426,809	$87.49 MX$1,600.60	+356.7%
Average			+356.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Mexico - 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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