Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Bulgaria

Sofia vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Sofia is 43.6% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 62.0% more in Sofia
Groceries: pay 28.0% less in Sofia
Transportation: pay 3.1% less in Sofia
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Sofia
Childcare: pay 4.4 times more in Sofia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.1% more in Sofia
Clothing: pay 77.8% more in Sofia

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

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Sofia vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 62.0% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$16.80 BGN29.23	+87.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$11.61 BGN20.20	+47.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.42 BGN4.21	+31.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$1.80 BGN3.14	+44.7%
Average			+62.0%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.53 BGN2.66	+53.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$5.70 BGN9.92	-41.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.46 BGN12.99	+27.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$4.37 BGN7.60	-10.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$3.92 BGN6.81	-55.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.99 BGN1.72	-41.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.92 BGN1.60	+15.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.86 BGN1.49	-47.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$1.93 BGN3.36	+23.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.48 BGN0.84	-63.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.41 BGN0.71	-62.2%
Average			-28.0%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$6.58 BGN11.46	+2.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$28.55 BGN49.69
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	+22.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$9.05 BGN15.75	-59.7%
Average			-3.1%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$15.37 BGN26.74	-77.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	+173.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	+209.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$121.09 BGN210.73	-30.7%
Average			+106.6%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	+234.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	+476.4%
Average			+338.8%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$3.44 BGN5.98	+102.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$3.53 BGN6.15	+56.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$4.25 BGN7.40	+88.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$46.61 BGN81.12	+37.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$10.08 BGN17.54	-50.0%
Average			+22.1%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.8% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Sofia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$89.18 BGN155.21
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$40.94 BGN71.25	-45.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$106.72 BGN185.72
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$106.41 BGN185.18	+479.5%
Average			+77.8%

Sao Tome vs. Sofia - 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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