Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Botswana

Gaborone vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 95.1% more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 33.6% more in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Gaborone
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Gaborone
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.2% more in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 40.1% more in Gaborone

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, transportation, clothing, and groceries in Gaborone are more expensive than in Thimphu. Notably, childcare, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Gaborone.

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Gaborone vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Gaborone instead of Thimphu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$10.85 BWP148.87	+319.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$5.79 BWP79.40	+17.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$0.72 BWP9.92	+44.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.42 BWP5.71	+129.9%
Average			+127.8%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.6% more for groceries

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$0.88 BWP12.02	-18.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$3.16 BWP43.42	+68.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$5.47 BWP75.12	+80.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$2.47 BWP33.83	+31.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$2.11 BWP28.88	+17.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$0.75 BWP10.31	-34.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$0.64 BWP8.75	-7.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$0.90 BWP12.38	+24.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$0.74 BWP10.15	+121.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$0.58 BWP7.97	+125.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$0.53 BWP7.25	+70.1%
Average			+33.6%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$5.15 BWP70.71	+85.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$29.66 BWP406.91	+473.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$19,891.73 BWP273K	+19.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$20.87 BWP286.32	+58.3%
Average			+112.2%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$42.10 BWP577.61	+74.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	+180.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	+157.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	$45.63 BWP626.12	+76.8%
Average			+146.9%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	+182.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	+339.6%
Average			+252.5%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$1.99 BWP27.29	-23.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$2.32 BWP31.83	+81.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$3.62 BWP49.62	-6.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$33.58 BWP460.78	-27.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	$6.15 BWP84.36	+98.2%
Average			+16.2%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.1% more for clothing

	Thimphu	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$47.53 BWP652.19	-4.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$16.75 BWP229.75	-33.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$72.33 BWP992.46	+7.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	+461.4%
Average			+40.1%

Thimphu vs. Gaborone - 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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