Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Zambia

Zambia vs. Sierra Leone Cost of Living Summary

Zambia is 35.2% cheaper than Sierra Leone overall.

Restaurants: pay 0.9% less in Zambia
Groceries: pay 2.9% less in Zambia
Transportation: pay 1.1% more in Zambia
Housing: pay 71.3% less in Zambia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.0% less in Zambia
Clothing: pay 96.9% more in Zambia

The cost of clothing and transportation in Zambia are more expensive than in Sierra Leone. Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Zambia. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Zambia.

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Zambia vs. Sierra Leone Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Zambia instead of Sierra Leone, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.9% less for restaurants

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$5.53 ZMW110.20	+176.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-54.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.63 ZMW12.52	-65.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.36 ZMW7.20	-57.4%
Average			-0.9%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9% less for groceries

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$1.18 ZMW23.48	+79.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$5.15 ZMW102.63	+45.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$6.37 ZMW126.88	-30.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.77 ZMW35.36	-2.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$2.87 ZMW57.22	-36.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$1.11 ZMW22.03	-65.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$1.10 ZMW21.94	-19.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+414.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.70 ZMW13.88	-69.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+28.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+12.2%
Average			-2.9%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% more for transportation

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$5.47 ZMW108.98	+9.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$50.15 ZMW999.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-37.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$14.58 ZMW290.52	+224.0%
Average			+1.1%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.3% less for housing

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	-69.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	-86.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	+34.1%
Average			-71.3%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$16,638.36 ZMW332K

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.26 ZMW25.05	-44.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$3.02 ZMW60.11	+0.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.03 ZMW120.22
Average			-20.0%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 96.9% more for clothing

	Sierra Leone	Zambia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$23.28 ZMW463.85	+132.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$15.45 ZMW307.88
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$45.19 ZMW900.42	+125.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	+45.1%
Average			+96.9%

Sierra Leone vs. Zambia - 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

Compare further: Sierra Leone vs. Zambia

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Sierra Leone is about 10 times smaller than Zambia.

Moving from Sierra Leone to Zambia · Cost, visas & climate

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