Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 42.3% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 22.8% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 31.1% less in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 30.5% less in Riyadh
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.7% more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in Riyadh

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

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Riyadh vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.8% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$7.99 SAR30.00	-10.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$7.99 SAR30.00	+1.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.87 SAR3.28	-52.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.31 SAR1.18	-74.8%
Average			-22.8%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.1% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.29 SAR4.83	+29.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.27 SAR19.78	-46.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$6.76 SAR25.39	+15.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$3.08 SAR11.57	-36.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$4.34 SAR16.27	-51.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.30 SAR4.88	-23.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.87 SAR3.28	+10.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.13 SAR4.23	-31.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.80 SAR2.99	-49.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.54 SAR2.04	-58.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.59 SAR2.21	-45.3%
Average			-31.1%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.5% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$2.35 SAR8.82	-63.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$37.31 SAR140.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$34,642.08 SAR130K	+40.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$18.12 SAR68.00	-19.2%
Average			-30.5%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$71.73 SAR269.20	+7.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+316.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+327.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$81.86 SAR307.20	-53.2%
Average			+183.4%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	+132.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	+360.4%
Average			+226.9%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$2.13 SAR8.00	+25.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$4.28 SAR16.07	+89.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$7.73 SAR29.00	+241.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$89.94 SAR337.52	+165.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$13.32 SAR50.00	-33.9%
Average			+54.7%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.30 SAR218.78
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$54.26 SAR203.65	-27.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$102.59 SAR385.02
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$103.93 SAR390.02	+465.9%
Average			+102.3%

Sao Tome vs. Riyadh - 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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