Cost of living comparison

Namibia

compared to

Zambia

Lusaka vs. Windhoek Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 21.5% cheaper than Windhoek.

Restaurants: pay 37.1% less in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 12.1% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 21.4% less in Lusaka
Housing: pay 36.7% less in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 43.9% more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.0% more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 48.0% less in Lusaka

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

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Lusaka vs. Windhoek Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lusaka instead of Windhoek, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.1% less for restaurants

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.42 NAD188.06	$5.53 ZMW110.20	-51.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 NAD98.98	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-16.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 NAD13.86	$0.75 ZMW15.03	-10.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 NAD14.69	$0.47 ZMW9.39	-47.2%
Average			-37.1%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.1% more for groceries

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 NAD15.09	$1.20 ZMW23.92	+30.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 NAD77.27	$5.15 ZMW102.63	+9.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 NAD97.42	$6.52 ZMW129.88	+10.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.12 NAD51.34	$1.94 ZMW38.66	-37.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.06 NAD50.45	$2.87 ZMW57.22	-6.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 NAD16.36	$1.53 ZMW30.42	+53.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89 NAD14.59	$1.10 ZMW21.94	+24.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 NAD13.75	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+97.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 NAD15.07	$0.70 ZMW13.88	-23.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NAD14.87	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+28.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 NAD13.24	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+3.0%
Average			+12.1%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.4% less for transportation

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.21 NAD85.71	$5.77 ZMW115.01	+10.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.10 NAD791.85	$50.15 ZMW999.41	+4.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,990.15 NAD395K	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-68.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.00 NAD131.65	$14.58 ZMW290.52	+82.3%
Average			-21.4%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.7% less for housing

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.44 NAD830.34	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	+9.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$500.55 NAD8,240.19	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	-23.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$354.07 NAD5,828.90	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	-49.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$108.00 NAD1,777.91	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	-43.0%
Average			-36.7%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 43.9% more for childcare

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$208.44 NAD3,431.35	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	-33.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,331.14 NAD87,763.39	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	+212.1%
Average			+43.9%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 NAD32.17	$1.26 ZMW25.05	-35.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.30 NAD37.94	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+22.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.31 NAD54.44	$3.02 ZMW60.11	-8.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.08 NAD610.38	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	+47.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.41 NAD89.08	$6.03 ZMW120.22	+11.5%
Average			+7.0%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.0% less for clothing

	Windhoek	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.86 NAD903.20	$23.28 ZMW463.85	-57.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.63 NAD570.13	$15.45 ZMW307.88	-55.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.44 NAD1,472.35	$45.19 ZMW900.42	-49.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.70 NAD1,558.96	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	-23.4%
Average			-48.0%

Windhoek vs. Lusaka - 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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