Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Peru

Lima vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Lima is 1.7% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 38.7% less in Lima
Groceries: pay 44.9% less in Lima
Transportation: pay 6.3% less in Lima
Housing: pay 46.4% more in Lima
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Lima
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.4% less in Lima
Clothing: pay 41.4% more in Lima

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

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Lima vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.7% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Lima
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$4.36 PEN14.95	-51.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$6.94 PEN23.82	-12.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.09 PEN3.74	-40.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.63 PEN2.17	-49.2%
Average			-38.7%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.9% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Lima
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$2.57 PEN8.84	+158.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$4.53 PEN15.56	-53.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$6.09 PEN20.89	+3.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.91 PEN9.99	-40.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.68 PEN9.21	-69.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.91 PEN3.13	-46.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.48 PEN1.64	-39.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.63 PEN2.17	-61.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.68 PEN2.32	-56.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.42 PEN1.44	-68.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.40 PEN1.37	-62.8%
Average			-44.9%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.3% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Lima
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$6.39 PEN21.92	-1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$26.51 PEN90.98
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$21,990.00 PEN75,466.91	-10.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$20.18 PEN69.26	-10.0%
Average			-6.3%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.4% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Lima
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$27.55 PEN94.54	-58.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$734.53 PEN2,520.82	+157.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$337.21 PEN1,157.28	+72.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$55.42 PEN190.21	-68.3%
Average			+46.4%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Lima
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$179.06 PEN614.50	-21.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$13,095.48 PEN44,942.05	+496.7%
Average			+116.2%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Lima
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$2.61 PEN8.97	+54.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.24 PEN11.11	+43.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$5.76 PEN19.78	+154.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$32.49 PEN111.50	-4.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$7.26 PEN24.91	-64.0%
Average			-1.4%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.4% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Lima
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$52.80 PEN181.20
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$34.89 PEN119.75	-53.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$83.72 PEN287.31
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$78.93 PEN270.86	+329.8%
Average			+41.4%

Sao Tome vs. Lima - 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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