Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Male is 33.8% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 23.1% less in Male
Groceries: pay 16.6% less in Male
Transportation: pay 15.6% less in Male
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Male
Childcare: pay 5.2% more in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 63.5% more in Male
Clothing: pay 37.6% more in Male

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

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Male vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.1% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$6.00 MVR92.74	-33.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$9.73 MVR150.39	+23.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.63 MVR25.12	-11.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.30 MVR4.59	-76.2%
Average			-23.1%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.6% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.65 MVR25.57	+66.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.34 MVR82.43	-45.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.69 MVR118.80	+31.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$1.92 MVR29.70	-60.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.77 MVR42.73	-68.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.80 MVR27.83	+6.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$1.39 MVR21.40	+75.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.85 MVR28.65	+13.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.22 MVR18.84	-22.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.93 MVR14.40	-29.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.86 MVR13.30	-20.0%
Average			-16.6%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$3.81 MVR58.81	-41.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$30.82 MVR476.23
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+31.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$17.52 MVR270.70	-21.9%
Average			-15.6%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+9.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$951.14 MVR14,695.19	+233.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$699.92 MVR10,813.71	+258.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$90.98 MVR1,405.60	-48.0%
Average			+145.9%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 5.2% more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$184.98 MVR2,857.90	-19.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$3,004.83 MVR46,424.59	+36.9%
Average			+5.2%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 63.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$4.87 MVR75.19	+186.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.55 MVR54.84	+56.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$14.93 MVR230.60	+559.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+108.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$9.73 MVR150.39	-51.7%
Average			+63.5%

Sao Tome vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.6% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$39.51 MVR610.48
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$49.64 MVR766.88	-33.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$87.13 MVR1,346.11
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$52.52 MVR811.39	+186.0%
Average			+37.6%

Sao Tome vs. Male - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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