Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Moldova

Moldova vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Moldova is 10.4% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.4% less in Moldova
Groceries: pay 56.6% less in Moldova
Transportation: pay 12.6% less in Moldova
Housing: pay 21.3% more in Moldova
Childcare: pay 54.2% more in Moldova
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.6% less in Moldova
Clothing: pay 35.7% more in Moldova

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

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Moldova vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.4% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$9.35 MDL167.98	+4.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$8.74 MDL157.06	+10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.02 MDL18.32	-44.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.67 MDL12.05	-46.2%
Average			-6.4%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$0.51 MDL9.13	-49.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$3.87 MDL69.59	-60.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$4.41 MDL79.21	-24.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.31 MDL41.48	-52.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.20 MDL39.50	-75.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.45 MDL8.11	-73.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.93 MDL16.65	+17.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.87 MDL15.67	-46.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.04 MDL18.65	-33.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.31 MDL5.63	-76.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.23 MDL4.22	-78.2%
Average			-56.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$6.15 MDL110.50	-4.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$17.07 MDL306.73
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$32,274.90 MDL580K	+31.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$4.30 MDL77.27	-80.8%
Average			-12.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.3% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$10.64 MDL191.11	-84.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$414.42 MDL7,445.70	+45.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$301.91 MDL5,424.26	+54.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$134.34 MDL2,413.65	-23.2%
Average			+21.3%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - Cost of housing

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pay 54.2% more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$219.48 MDL3,943.33	-4.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$5,438.11 MDL97,703.64	+147.8%
Average			+54.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.50 MDL26.88	-11.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$1.77 MDL31.77	-21.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$3.38 MDL60.81	+49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$31.66 MDL568.73	-6.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$6.45 MDL115.91	-68.0%
Average			-28.6%

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

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pay 35.7% more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Moldova
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$52.78 MDL948.25
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$38.13 MDL685.02	-49.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$92.27 MDL1,657.83
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$66.57 MDL1,196.02	+262.5%
Average			+35.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Moldova - 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. Moldova

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 2.1 times more money in Moldova

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 35 times smaller than Moldova.

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

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