Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 0.2% cheaper than Sao Tome.

Restaurants: pay 59.2% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 35.7% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 13.1% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 49.8% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 3.7 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.4% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 41.1% more in Vientiane

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

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Vientiane vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 59.2% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$2.67 LAK60,254	-70.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$5.35 LAK121K	-32.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$0.71 LAK16,068	-61.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.37 LAK8,410	-70.1%
Average			-59.2%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.7% less for groceries

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.14 LAK25,737	+14.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$13.59 LAK306K	+38.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$7.61 LAK171K	+29.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$1.87 LAK42,101	-61.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.81 LAK63,330	-68.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.09 LAK24,464	-36.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.52 LAK11,662	-34.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$1.19 LAK26,832	-27.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.69 LAK15,639	-55.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.66 LAK14,918	-49.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.49 LAK10,995	-54.7%
Average			-35.7%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.1% less for transportation

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.62 LAK127K	-12.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$48.44 LAK1M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$28,190.13 LAK635M	+14.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$8.47 LAK191K	-62.3%
Average			-13.1%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.8% more for housing

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$12.33 LAK278K	-81.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$643.47 LAK15M	+125.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$414.50 LAK9M	+112.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$69.22 LAK2M	-60.4%
Average			+49.8%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 3.7 times more for childcare

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$625.02 LAK14M	+173.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$11,083.07 LAK250M	+405.0%
Average			+271.6%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.36 LAK30,629	-19.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$1.79 LAK40,336	-20.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$1.78 LAK40,169	-21.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$47.54 LAK1M	+40.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	$4.23 LAK95,401	-79.0%
Average			-34.4%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.1% more for clothing

	Sao Tome	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$26.74 LAK603K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$66.85 LAK2M	-10.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$56.75 LAK1M
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$41.00 LAK924K	+123.3%
Average			+41.1%

Sao Tome vs. Vientiane - 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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