Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Bandar Seri Begawan is 10.2% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 46.0% less in Bandar Seri Begawan
Groceries: pay 27.3% less in Bandar Seri Begawan
Transportation: pay 33.1% less in Bandar Seri Begawan
Housing: pay 69.4% more in Bandar Seri Begawan
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Bandar Seri Begawan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.1% more in Bandar Seri Begawan
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in Bandar Seri Begawan

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

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Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bandar Seri Begawan instead of Sao Tome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.0% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$3.91 BND5.00	-56.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$6.17 BND7.91	-21.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.92 BND1.18	-49.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.52 BND0.66	-58.6%
Average			-46.0%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.3% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.72 BND2.20	+72.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$4.69 BND6.01	-52.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.05 BND9.03	+20.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.04 BND2.62	-57.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.04 BND2.61	-77.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.42 BND1.82	-16.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.99 BND1.27	+25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.33 BND1.70	-18.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.15 BND1.48	-26.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.77 BND0.99	-41.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.93 BND1.19	-13.6%
Average			-27.3%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.1% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$1.55 BND1.99	-76.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$0.78 BND1.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$42,965.55 BND55,045.14	+74.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$30.47 BND39.03	+35.8%
Average			-33.1%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of transportation

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pay 69.4% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$65.10 BND83.40	-2.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$720.60 BND923.19	+152.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$473.37 BND606.46	+142.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$46.90 BND60.08	-73.2%
Average			+69.4%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$216.79 BND277.73	-5.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$9,724.87 BND12,458.98	+343.1%
Average			+105.0%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.95 BND2.50	+15.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.91 BND5.00	+72.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$15.63 BND20.02	+590.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$45.57 BND58.38	+34.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$5.47 BND7.00	-72.9%
Average			+8.1%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Bandar Seri Begawan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$76.16 BND97.58
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$93.73 BND120.08	+24.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$102.14 BND130.86
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$72.26 BND92.58	+293.5%
Average			+121.7%

Sao Tome vs. Bandar Seri Begawan - 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

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