Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Botswana

Gaborone vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 35.4% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 57.3% less in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 41.6% less in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 33.0% less in Gaborone
Housing: pay 28.0% less in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.9% more in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 4.7 times more in Gaborone

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

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Gaborone vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 57.3% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD651K	$10.33 BWP140.45	-64.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260K	$6.01 BWP81.71	-48.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$0.82 BWP11.13	-57.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$0.48 BWP6.54	-58.8%
Average			-57.3%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$0.86 BWP11.67	-20.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD228K	$3.42 BWP46.54	-66.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD133K	$5.53 BWP75.22	-7.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD114K	$2.32 BWP31.61	-54.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD207K	$2.34 BWP31.85	-74.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$0.80 BWP10.85	-62.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.65 BWP8.84	+22.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$0.80 BWP10.88	-56.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$0.73 BWP9.95	-54.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.64 BWP8.74	-46.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.58 BWP7.87	-37.6%
Average			-41.6%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.0% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD143K	$4.28 BWP58.27	-33.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$30.79 BWP418.79
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$20,652.69 BWP281K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$20.46 BWP278.34
Average			-33.0%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.0% less for housing

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD2M	$52.19 BWP709.89	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD8M	$262.85 BWP3,575.00	-25.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5M	$160.93 BWP2,188.78	-31.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$52.95 BWP720.17
Average			-28.0%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$147.01 BWP1,999.45
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$3,593.57 BWP48,875.41

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$2.25 BWP30.64	+34.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$2.30 BWP31.22	-1.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$3.68 BWP50.05	+57.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD833K	$32.35 BWP439.94	-13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468K	$6.76 BWP91.93	-67.9%
Average			+1.9%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.7 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$46.00 BWP625.63
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$24.41 BWP331.96
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$71.82 BWP976.74
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD427K	$90.12 BWP1,225.72	+370.5%
Average			+370.5%

Sao Tome vs. Gaborone - 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: July 2026

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