Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Taiwan Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome and Principe is 46.4% more expensive than Taiwan overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Sao Tome and Principe
Groceries: pay 15.9% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Transportation: pay 69.0% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Housing: pay 67.9% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.6% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Clothing: pay 80.1% less in Sao Tome and Principe

The cost of restaurants, transportation, housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Sao Tome and Principe are more expensive than in Taiwan. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Sao Tome and Principe.

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Taiwan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Taiwan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.82 NT$151.22	$29.20 STD650,623	+506.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 NT$161.99	$11.68 STD260,249	+126.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.98 NT$30.70	$1.92 STD42,768	+96.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 NT$21.02	$1.17 STD26,025	+74.4%
Average			+200.8%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.9% more for groceries

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.77 NT$55.47	$1.08 STD24,088	-38.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.29 NT$291.60	$10.22 STD227,718	+10.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.90 NT$373.42	$5.97 STD132,995	-49.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 NT$82.06	$5.09 STD113,503	+94.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.56 NT$111.70	$9.27 STD206,583	+160.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.03 NT$63.63	$2.12 STD47,219	+4.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00 NT$31.34	$0.53 STD11,805	-46.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 NT$39.17	$1.85 STD41,316	+48.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.55 NT$48.61	$1.59 STD35,414	+2.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 NT$37.82	$1.19 STD26,561	-1.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03 NT$32.24	$0.93 STD20,658	-9.7%
Average			+15.9%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of groceries

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pay 69.0% more for transportation

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 NT$118.78	$6.40 STD142,518	+69.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.06 NT$1,069.33	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,728.87 NT$1,121,597.24	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.18 NT$288.18	??
Average			+69.0%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.9% more for housing

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.10 NT$662.43	$72.42 STD1,613,544	+243.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$429.29 NT$13,476.23	$350.40 STD7,807,473	-18.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$295.73 NT$9,283.44	$233.60 STD5,204,982	-21.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.85 NT$1,721.85	??
Average			+67.9%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.45 NT$16,306.62	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,665.76 NT$523,169.72	??

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.97 NT$61.79	$1.67 STD37,216	-15.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.00 NT$94.24	$2.34 STD52,050	-22.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.54 NT$142.65	$2.34 STD52,050	-48.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.49 NT$1,176.73	$37.38 STD832,797	-0.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.04 NT$315.31	$21.02 STD468,448	+109.3%
Average			+4.6%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 80.1% less for clothing

	Taiwan	Sao Tome and Principe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.08 NT$2,043.13	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.24 NT$980.69	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.60 NT$2,498.69	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.29 NT$3,022.88	$19.16 STD426,809	-80.1%
Average			-80.1%

Taiwan vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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