Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Lebanon

Beirut vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 48.4% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 22.4% more in Beirut
Groceries: pay 33.6% less in Beirut
Transportation: pay 9.9% more in Beirut
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Beirut
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.0% more in Beirut
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Beirut

The cost of childcare, housing, clothing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation in Beirut are more expensive than in Sao Tome. Notably, childcare, housing, and clothing are significantly more expensive in Beirut.

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Beirut vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beirut instead of Sao Tome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.4% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$12.00 LBP1M	+34.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$10.00 LBP896K	+26.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.33 LBP209K	+26.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.87 LBP78,113	-30.0%
Average			+22.4%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$0.88 LBP78,624	-11.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.54 LBP496K	-43.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.42 LBP664K	+26.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$3.57 LBP320K	-26.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$4.81 LBP431K	-45.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.39 LBP124K	-18.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.76 LBP68,245	-3.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.75 LBP66,945	-54.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.68 LBP60,933	-56.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.56 LBP50,168	-57.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.71 LBP63,835	-33.8%
Average			-33.6%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.9% more for transportation

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$4.04 LBP362K	-37.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$77.50 LBP7M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$53,500.00 LBP5B	+117.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$23.00 LBP2M	+2.5%
Average			+9.9%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$37.98 LBP3M	-43.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$943.80 LBP85M	+231.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$496.60 LBP44M	+154.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$177.50 LBP16M	+1.5%
Average			+128.6%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$681.75 LBP61M	+198.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$10,643.75 LBP953M	+385.0%
Average			+280.3%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$5.00 LBP448K	+194.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$4.54 LBP407K	+100.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$3.00 LBP269K	+32.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$85.00 LBP8M	+150.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$10.00 LBP896K	-50.4%
Average			+55.0%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$67.62 LBP6M
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$49.29 LBP4M	-34.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$138.89 LBP12M
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$120.00 LBP11M	+553.5%
Average			+107.2%

Sao Tome vs. Beirut - 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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