Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Argentina

Buenos Aires vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Buenos Aires is 2.1 times more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 0.8% less in Buenos Aires
Groceries: pay 10.2% less in Buenos Aires
Transportation: pay 32.6% less in Buenos Aires
Housing: pay 42.4% more in Buenos Aires
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.2% more in Buenos Aires
Clothing: pay 7.0 times more in Buenos Aires

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

Buenos Aires vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Buenos Aires instead of Sao Tome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.8% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD651K	$18.00 ARS25,387.58	-38.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260K	$12.00 ARS16,925.05	+2.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$2.18 ARS3,076.30	+13.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$1.39 ARS1,957.83	+18.8%
Average			-0.8%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.2% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$2.89 ARS4,077.22	+167.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD228K	$6.13 ARS8,650.58	-40.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD133K	$5.84 ARS8,232.93	-2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD114K	$3.29 ARS4,638.86	-35.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD207K	$3.92 ARS5,528.14	-57.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$1.15 ARS1,623.31	-45.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.96 ARS1,355.81	+81.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$0.57 ARS798.79	-69.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$1.14 ARS1,607.33	-28.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.66 ARS928.98	-44.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.58 ARS816.45	-37.6%
Average			-10.2%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD143K	$4.31 ARS6,082.93	-32.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$20.00 ARS28,208.42
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$25,000.00 ARS35M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$9.51 ARS13,420.10
Average			-32.6%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.4% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD2M	$29.42 ARS41,497.90	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD8M	$659.06 ARS930K	+88.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5M	$463.75 ARS654K	+98.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$100.98 ARS142K
Average			+42.4%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$367.39 ARS518K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$5,496.25 ARS8M

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$3.80 ARS5,359.60	+127.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$4.13 ARS5,818.82	+76.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.68 ARS5,190.35	+57.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD833K	$43.59 ARS61,475.84	+16.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468K	$9.00 ARS12,693.79	-57.2%
Average			+44.2%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.0 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$112.87 ARS159K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$91.59 ARS129K
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$129.33 ARS182K
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD427K	$134.94 ARS190K	+604.4%
Average			+604.4%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - 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: June 2026

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