Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sri Lanka vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 9.5% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.1% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 36.1% less in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 35.6% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 41.1% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.6% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 83.1% more in Sri Lanka

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

Sri Lanka vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 63.1% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD650,623	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	-87.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260,249	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	-32.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$0.73 LKR224.32	-62.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$0.35 LKR106.15	-70.4%
Average			-63.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.1% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$0.48 LKR147.07	-55.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD227,718	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	-44.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD132,995	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	+0.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD113,503	$1.94 LKR597.37	-61.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD206,583	$2.05 LKR629.94	-77.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$2.40 LKR736.93	+13.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.44 LKR136.48	-16.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$2.17 LKR665.91	+16.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$0.55 LKR168.43	-65.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.45 LKR139.78	-61.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.51 LKR155.98	-45.3%
Average			-36.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD142,518	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	-35.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$10.74 LKR3,299.78
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$3.00 LKR921.91
Average			-35.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.1% less for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD1,613,544	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	-82.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD7,807,473	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	-17.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5,204,982	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	-23.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$31.64 LKR9,722.89
Average			-41.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$33.87 LKR10,407.01
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$466.09 LKR143,227.52

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$2.08 LKR639.65	+24.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$2.39 LKR735.74	+2.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	+296.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD832,797	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	-59.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468,448	$3.12 LKR959.48	-85.1%
Average			+35.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 83.1% more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$25.05 LKR7,697.80
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$17.03 LKR5,232.27
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$62.69 LKR19,264.32
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD426,809	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	+83.1%
Average			+83.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Sri Lanka - 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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