Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Zambia

Lusaka vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 19.4% cheaper than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 42.9% less in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 26.3% less in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 44.2% less in Lusaka
Housing: pay 7.6% less in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.6% less in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 9.8% less in Lusaka

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

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Lusaka vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.9% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$5.53 ZMW110.20	-38.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-36.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.75 ZMW15.03	-59.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.47 ZMW9.39	-62.2%
Average			-42.9%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.3% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.20 ZMW23.92	+20.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.15 ZMW102.63	-47.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$6.52 ZMW129.88	+11.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$1.94 ZMW38.66	-60.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.87 ZMW57.22	-67.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.53 ZMW30.42	-10.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$1.10 ZMW21.94	+39.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.70 ZMW13.88	-55.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$1.16 ZMW23.20	-11.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.83 ZMW16.51	-23.0%
Average			-26.3%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.2% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.77 ZMW115.01	-10.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$50.15 ZMW999.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-69.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$14.58 ZMW290.52	-35.0%
Average			-44.2%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.6% less for housing

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	-17.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	+35.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	-8.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	-64.8%
Average			-7.6%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	-39.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	+658.1%
Average			+114.1%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.26 ZMW25.05	-25.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+24.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$3.02 ZMW60.11	+33.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	+61.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$6.03 ZMW120.22	-70.1%
Average			-15.6%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.8% less for clothing

	Sao Tome	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$23.28 ZMW463.85
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$15.45 ZMW307.88	-79.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$45.19 ZMW900.42
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	+295.0%
Average			-9.8%

Sao Tome vs. Lusaka - 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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