Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Argentina

Buenos Aires vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Buenos Aires is 44.6% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 72.6% more in Buenos Aires
Groceries: pay 30.7% less in Buenos Aires
Transportation: pay 13.8% less in Buenos Aires
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Buenos Aires
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Buenos Aires
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.9% more in Buenos Aires
Clothing: pay 3.1 times more in Buenos Aires

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

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Buenos Aires vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 72.6% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$19.02 ARS28,866.32	+112.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$12.96 ARS19,665.62	+64.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.01 ARS3,045.90	+9.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$1.59 ARS2,416.05	+27.7%
Average			+72.6%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.7% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$2.48 ARS3,759.89	+148.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.25 ARS7,963.26	-46.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$5.52 ARS8,376.92	-6.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.81 ARS4,263.15	-42.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$4.60 ARS6,980.53	-48.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.28 ARS1,941.83	-24.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.97 ARS1,476.48	+22.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.65 ARS986.80	-60.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.92 ARS1,393.13	-41.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.56 ARS848.63	-57.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.56 ARS844.64	-48.3%
Average			-30.7%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.8% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.28 ARS8,007.28	-18.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$27.50 ARS41,738.12
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$28,500.00 ARS43M	+15.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$9.60 ARS14,570.40	-57.2%
Average			-13.8%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$31.11 ARS47,219.03	-53.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$770.79 ARS1M	+170.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$509.75 ARS774K	+161.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$162.43 ARS247K	-7.1%
Average			+108.2%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$464.87 ARS706K	+103.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$8,896.36 ARS14M	+305.3%
Average			+187.1%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$3.95 ARS6,000.47	+133.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.86 ARS5,864.06	+70.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$4.21 ARS6,386.17	+85.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$49.97 ARS75,848.75	+47.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$10.38 ARS15,757.84	-48.5%
Average			+30.9%

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

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pay 3.1 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Buenos Aires
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$120.49 ARS183K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$95.69 ARS145K	+27.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$115.94 ARS176K
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$138.37 ARS210K	+653.5%
Average			+210.0%

Sao Tome vs. Buenos Aires - 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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