Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Pakistan

Islamabad vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Islamabad is 24.5% cheaper than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 76.8% less in Islamabad
Groceries: pay 66.6% less in Islamabad
Transportation: pay 44.3% less in Islamabad
Housing: pay 56.3% less in Islamabad
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.3% less in Islamabad
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Islamabad

Expenses including restaurants, groceries, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Islamabad. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Islamabad.

Islamabad vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.8% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD651K	$2.83 PKR788.07	-90.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260K	$4.95 PKR1,379.13	-57.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$0.38 PKR107.19	-80.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$0.24 PKR67.08	-79.4%
Average			-76.8%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 66.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$0.67 PKR186.31	-38.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD228K	$3.36 PKR934.61	-67.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD133K	$3.75 PKR1,044.11	-37.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD114K	$1.23 PKR341.71	-75.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD207K	$1.48 PKR410.93	-84.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$0.49 PKR136.75	-76.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.37 PKR103.15	-30.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$0.40 PKR111.92	-78.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$0.24 PKR66.39	-85.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.17 PKR48.12	-85.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.24 PKR66.14	-74.4%
Average			-66.6%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.3% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD143K	$3.56 PKR991.71	-44.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$9.37 PKR2,610.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$21,219.01 PKR6M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$4.28 PKR1,191.96
Average			-44.3%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 56.3% less for housing

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD2M	$18.04 PKR5,023.97	-75.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD8M	$204.95 PKR57,088.45	-41.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5M	$111.30 PKR31,003.05	-52.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$81.95 PKR22,826.07
Average			-56.3%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$60.67 PKR16,900.49
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$3,476.38 PKR968K

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$3.01 PKR837.33	+80.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$2.08 PKR578.25	-11.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$2.12 PKR591.06	-9.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD833K	$21.87 PKR6,092.02	-41.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468K	$4.24 PKR1,182.11	-79.8%
Average			-12.3%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Islamabad
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$21.22 PKR5,910.55
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$27.98 PKR7,793.82
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$91.73 PKR25,550.83
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD427K	$40.09 PKR11,166.80	+109.3%
Average			+109.3%

Sao Tome vs. Islamabad - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Sao Tome vs. Islamabad

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Islamabad?

More cost comparisons

Sao Tome vs.

Canberra

Sao Tome vs.

Nairobi

Sao Tome vs.

Madrid

Sao Tome vs.

Paris

Sao Tome vs.

Dublin

Sao Tome vs.

Algiers

Sao Tome vs.

Hong Kong

Sao Tome vs.

Papeete

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Sao Tome and Principe vs. Pakistan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Sao Tome and Principe and Pakistan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Sao Tome

Add prices for Islamabad

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Islamabad or Sao Tome. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.