Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Albania

Tirana vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Tirana is 36.1% more expensive than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 20.0% more in Tirana
Groceries: pay 30.5% less in Tirana
Transportation: pay 37.5% more in Tirana
Housing: pay 82.2% more in Tirana
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Tirana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.7% more in Tirana
Clothing: pay 99.3% more in Tirana

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

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Tirana vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.0% more for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$9.77 ALL794	+9.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$10.99 ALL893	+39.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$2.38 ALL193	+29.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$1.26 ALL103	+1.4%
Average			+20.0%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.5% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.18 ALL96	+18.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$6.45 ALL524	-34.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$8.47 ALL688	+44.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$3.77 ALL306	-22.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$4.12 ALL335	-53.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$0.89 ALL72	-47.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$1.12 ALL91	+41.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.98 ALL80	-39.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.84 ALL68	-46.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.47 ALL38	-64.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.58 ALL47	-46.3%
Average			-30.5%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.5% more for transportation

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$8.77 ALL712	+35.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$19.54 ALL1,587
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$33,592.07 ALL3M	+36.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$32.98 ALL2,678	+47.0%
Average			+37.5%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.2% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$19.91 ALL1,617	-70.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$828.78 ALL67,311	+190.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$479.97 ALL38,982	+146.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$74.95 ALL6,088	-57.1%
Average			+82.2%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$344.43 ALL27,973	+50.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$8,249.97 ALL670K	+275.9%
Average			+138.0%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$3.54 ALL288	+108.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.25 ALL183	-0.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$4.76 ALL387	+110.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$55.71 ALL4,525	+64.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$9.77 ALL794	-51.5%
Average			+17.7%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 99.3% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Tirana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$69.87 ALL5,675
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$47.44 ALL3,853	-36.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$122.26 ALL9,930
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$115.33 ALL9,367	+528.0%
Average			+99.3%

Sao Tome vs. Tirana - 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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