Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Latvia

Riga vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Riga is 37.4% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 37.6% more in Riga
Groceries: pay 35.0% less in Riga
Transportation: pay 3.7% more in Riga
Housing: pay 77.3% more in Riga
Childcare: pay 4.8 times more in Riga
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.2% more in Riga
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in Riga

The cost of childcare, clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation in Riga are more expensive than in Sao Tome. Notably, childcare, clothing, and housing are significantly more expensive in Riga.

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Riga vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 37.6% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Riga
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$16.80 €15.00	+87.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$9.24 €8.25	+17.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.61 €1.44	-12.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$1.18 €1.05	-5.4%
Average			+37.6%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.0% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Riga
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.43 €1.28	+43.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.22 €4.66	-46.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$4.41 €3.94	-24.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$3.76 €3.36	-22.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$3.91 €3.49	-56.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.00 €0.89	-41.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.83 €0.74	+4.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.13 €1.01	-31.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.40 €1.25	-11.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.40 €0.36	-69.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.42 €0.38	-60.9%
Average			-35.0%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% more for transportation

	Sao Tome	Riga
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$7.75 €6.92	+20.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$33.59 €29.99
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$27,308.11 €24,383.33	+10.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$11.42 €10.20	-49.1%
Average			+3.7%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of transportation

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pay 77.3% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Riga
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$20.41 €18.23	-69.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$582.45 €520.07	+104.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$385.02 €343.78	+97.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$286.52 €255.84	+63.9%
Average			+77.3%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of housing

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pay 4.8 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Riga
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$645.25 €576.14	+182.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$17,635.84 €15,746.98	+703.5%
Average			+376.2%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Riga
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$5.60 €5.00	+230.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.72 €3.32	+64.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$6.72 €6.00	+196.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$49.91 €44.56	+47.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$10.75 €9.60	-46.7%
Average			+47.2%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Riga
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$69.42 €61.99
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$50.39 €44.99	-32.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$85.85 €76.65
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$138.10 €123.31	+652.0%
Average			+124.7%

Sao Tome vs. Riga - 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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