Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Tonga

Tonga vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Tonga is 1.0% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 18.9% more in Tonga
Groceries: pay 14.0% less in Tonga
Transportation: pay 49.2% less in Tonga
Housing: pay 68.7% more in Tonga
Childcare: pay 72.0% less in Tonga
Entertainment and Sports: pay 63.9% more in Tonga
Clothing: pay 39.0% less in Tonga

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

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Tonga vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.9% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$8.31 TOP20.00	-7.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$10.38 TOP25.00	+31.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.84 TOP6.83	+54.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$2.46 TOP5.92	+97.2%
Average			+18.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.04 TOP2.50	+4.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$4.50 TOP10.83	-54.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$5.92 TOP14.26	+0.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$5.09 TOP12.27	+4.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.67 TOP6.43	-70.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.26 TOP3.02	-26.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$1.26 TOP3.02	+58.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.32 TOP3.18	-19.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.70 TOP4.08	+8.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$1.44 TOP3.48	+9.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$1.19 TOP2.87	+10.8%
Average			-14.0%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - Cost of groceries

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pay 49.2% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.50 TOP13.25	-14.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$41.53 TOP100.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	-76.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$18.69 TOP45.00	-16.7%
Average			-49.2%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.7% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$124.60 TOP300.00	+86.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	+118.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	??
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$142.92 TOP344.12	-18.3%
Average			+68.7%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - Cost of housing

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pay 72.0% less for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$157.82 TOP380.00	-31.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$249.19 TOP600.00	-88.6%
Average			-72.0%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - Cost of childcare

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pay 63.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$3.32 TOP8.00	+95.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.91 TOP7.00	+28.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$10.18 TOP24.50	+349.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$31.15 TOP75.00	-8.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$41.53 TOP100.00	+106.1%
Average			+63.9%

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

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pay 39.0% less for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Tonga
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$14.54 TOP35.00
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$17.65 TOP42.50	-76.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$20.77 TOP50.00
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$29.07 TOP70.00	+58.3%
Average			-39.0%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Tonga - 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. Tonga

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 78.0% less likely to be unemployed in Tonga

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 1.3 times bigger than Tonga.

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

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