Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Canada

Ottawa vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 87.3% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 59.3% more in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 2.4% less in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 16.6% less in Ottawa
Housing: pay 3.7 times more in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 5.4 times more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 64.3% more in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 62.9% more in Ottawa

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

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Ottawa vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 59.3% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$18.24 CA$25.82	+103.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$10.52 CA$14.89	+33.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.06 CA$2.92	+12.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$1.74 CA$2.46	+39.2%
Average			+59.3%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$3.07 CA$4.35	+208.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.27 CA$7.46	-46.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$8.65 CA$12.24	+47.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$3.38 CA$4.78	-30.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$5.07 CA$7.18	-42.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.72 CA$2.43	+1.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.62 CA$0.87	-22.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.75 CA$2.48	+7.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.64 CA$2.33	+4.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$1.17 CA$1.65	-11.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$1.08 CA$1.53	+0.5%
Average			-2.4%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$4.48 CA$6.35	-30.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$94.69 CA$134.05
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$27,760.48 CA$39,301.90	+12.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$14.45 CA$20.46	-35.6%
Average			-16.6%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$49.74 CA$70.42	-25.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$1,478.74 CA$2,093.52	+419.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$1,220.86 CA$1,728.44	+526.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$103.40 CA$146.38	-40.9%
Average			+266.5%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 5.4 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$927.38 CA$1,312.93	+305.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$15,956.31 CA$22,590.15	+627.0%
Average			+443.1%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 64.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$5.61 CA$7.94	+230.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$4.04 CA$5.73	+78.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$14.31 CA$20.26	+532.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$45.45 CA$64.35	+34.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$12.65 CA$17.91	-37.2%
Average			+64.3%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 62.9% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$60.13 CA$85.12
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$37.89 CA$53.64	-49.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$105.98 CA$150.04
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$96.50 CA$136.62	+425.5%
Average			+62.9%

Sao Tome vs. Ottawa - 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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