Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Tajikistan

Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Dushanbe is 18.6% cheaper than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 47.4% less in Dushanbe
Groceries: pay 54.8% less in Dushanbe
Transportation: pay 44.5% less in Dushanbe
Housing: pay 35.3% more in Dushanbe
Childcare: pay 2.8% less in Dushanbe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.5% less in Dushanbe
Clothing: pay 46.7% more in Dushanbe

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

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Dushanbe vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 47.4% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$4.88 TJS44.99	-45.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$5.42 TJS49.99	-31.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.60 TJS5.57	-67.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.35 TJS3.25	-71.7%
Average			-47.4%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.8% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$0.62 TJS5.69	-38.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.53 TJS50.99	-43.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$4.10 TJS37.85	-30.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$1.81 TJS16.68	-62.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$1.96 TJS18.07	-78.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.85 TJS7.86	-49.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$1.29 TJS11.87	+62.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.20 TJS11.11	-26.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.57 TJS5.22	-64.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.28 TJS2.56	-78.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.19 TJS1.74	-82.5%
Average			-54.8%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.5% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$4.37 TJS40.37	-32.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$32.50 TJS299.95
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$16,250.83 TJS150K	-34.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$3.68 TJS33.99	-83.6%
Average			-44.5%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.3% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$17.18 TJS158.54	-74.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	+120.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	+80.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$51.70 TJS477.10	-70.4%
Average			+35.3%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8% less for childcare

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$83.42 TJS769.87	-63.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	+158.8%
Average			-2.8%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.19 TJS11.00	-29.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$1.79 TJS16.50	-21.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$3.79 TJS34.99	+67.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$45.50 TJS419.93	+34.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$5.42 TJS49.99	-73.1%
Average			-27.5%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 46.7% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Dushanbe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$24.38 TJS224.96
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$52.65 TJS485.92	-29.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$77.64 TJS716.55
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$56.34 TJS519.91	+206.8%
Average			+46.7%

Sao Tome vs. Dushanbe - 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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