Cost of living comparison

Timor-Leste

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Timor-Leste Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome and Principe is 26.9% cheaper than Timor-Leste overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.3% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Groceries: pay 53.0% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Transportation: pay 17.8% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Housing: pay 61.4% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Childcare: pay 85.5% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Clothing: pay 12.5% less in Sao Tome and Principe

The cost of groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Sao Tome and Principe are more expensive than in Timor-Leste. Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Sao Tome and Principe.

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Sao Tome and Principe vs. Timor-Leste Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Timor-Leste, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.3% more for restaurants

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00	$8.96 STD200K	+79.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00	$7.89 STD176K	-1.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$1.84 STD41,004	+10.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.83	$1.25 STD27,770	-56.0%
Average			+20.3%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.0% more for groceries

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48	$1.00 STD22,187	-59.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.00	$9.80 STD218K	+879.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.80	$5.87 STD131K	-33.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.70	$4.85 STD108K	+79.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.31	$8.89 STD198K	+106.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.51	$1.70 STD37,881	+12.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83	$0.79 STD17,644	-4.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13	$1.63 STD36,419	+44.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.06	$1.57 STD34,958	+48.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55	$1.31 STD29,299	+137.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53	$1.08 STD23,986	+103.4%
Average			+53.0%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.8% more for transportation

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.34	$6.46 STD144K	+21.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,000.00	$24,634.18 STD549M	+36.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.70	$22.43 STD500K	-31.4%
Average			+17.8%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.4% less for housing

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$66.91 STD1M
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$828.75	$284.91 STD6M	-65.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$753.75	$195.02 STD4M	-74.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.71	$174.83 STD4M	+52.4%
Average			-61.4%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of housing

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pay 85.5% less for childcare

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,500.00	$228.62 STD5M	-84.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,000.00	$2,194.77 STD49M	-86.3%
Average			-85.5%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.50	$1.70 STD37,799	-32.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.12	$2.26 STD50,442	-45.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00	$2.26 STD50,420	-24.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.00	$33.92 STD756K	-32.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.00	$20.16 STD449K	+235.9%
Average			-2.0%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.5% less for clothing

	Timor-Leste	Sao Tome and Principe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.00	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.00	$75.02 STD2M	+150.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.00	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.00	$18.36 STD409K	-69.4%
Average			-12.5%

Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe - 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: Timor-Leste vs. Sao Tome and Principe

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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 5.7 times more likely to be unemployed in Sao Tome and Principe

Size Comparison · See true size

Timor-Leste is about 15 times bigger than Sao Tome and Principe.

Moving from Timor-Leste to Sao Tome and Principe · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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