Cost of living comparison

Somalia

compared to

Afghanistan

Afghanistan vs. Somalia Cost of Living Summary

Afghanistan is 19.4% cheaper than Somalia overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.5% less in Afghanistan
Groceries: pay 56.0% less in Afghanistan
Transportation: pay 13.1% more in Afghanistan
Housing: pay 1.3% less in Afghanistan
Childcare: pay 10.8% less in Afghanistan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.0% less in Afghanistan
Clothing: pay 26.0% more in Afghanistan

The cost of clothing and transportation in Afghanistan are more expensive than in Somalia. Expenses including groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, childcare, and housing are lower in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan vs. Somalia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Afghanistan instead of Somalia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.5% less for restaurants

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.33 SOS1,908	$2.77 AFN180	-16.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.00 SOS2,862	$4.62 AFN300	-7.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 SOS595	$0.47 AFN31	-54.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 SOS437	$0.15 AFN10	-79.9%
Average			-29.5%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.0% less for groceries

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.35 SOS775	$0.24 AFN16	-82.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.50 SOS1,431	$2.19 AFN142	-12.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.02 SOS4,020	$3.21 AFN208	-54.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 SOS1,250	$1.55 AFN101	-28.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 SOS1,157	$1.81 AFN118	-10.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 SOS671	$0.32 AFN21	-72.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 SOS476	$0.40 AFN26	-52.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SOS649	$0.42 AFN27	-63.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 SOS335	$0.24 AFN16	-59.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 SOS357	$0.28 AFN18	-55.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SOS422	$0.22 AFN15	-69.7%
Average			-56.0%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.1% more for transportation

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.57 SOS2,041	$4.19 AFN272	+17.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.17 SOS6,968	$20.77 AFN1,350	+70.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$10,000.00 SOS6M	$8,461.54 AFN550K	-15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.78 SOS3,882	$5.77 AFN375	-14.9%
Average			+13.1%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.3% less for housing

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.56 SOS22,639	$96.92 AFN6,300	+145.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$143.33 SOS82,036	$123.08 AFN8,000	-14.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$77.50 SOS44,357	$108.80 AFN7,072	+40.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.38 SOS44,862	$32.46 AFN2,110	-58.6%
Average			-1.3%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of housing

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pay 10.8% less for childcare

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$51.67 SOS29,571	$20.26 AFN1,317	-60.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$515.00 SOS295K	$1,046.15 AFN68,000	+103.1%
Average			-10.8%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	??	$2.31 AFN150
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.67 SOS954	$1.10 AFN71	-34.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.00 SOS572	$2.38 AFN155	+138.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.58 SOS19,794	$11.08 AFN720	-68.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$2.31 AFN150
Average			-40.0%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.0% more for clothing

	Somalia	Afghanistan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$12.50 SOS7,154	$10.64 AFN692	-14.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.33 SOS9,348	$16.00 AFN1,040	-2.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$18.50 SOS10,588	$57.69 AFN3,750	+211.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$25.83 SOS14,786	$25.08 AFN1,630	-2.9%
Average			+26.0%

Somalia vs. Afghanistan - 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: Somalia vs. Afghanistan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Afghanistan?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 69.6% more likely to have access to electricity in Afghanistan

Size Comparison · See true size

Somalia is around the same size as Afghanistan.

Moving from Somalia to Afghanistan · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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