Cost of living comparison

Cameroon

compared to

Zambia

Lusaka vs. Yaounde Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 21.8% more expensive than Yaounde.

Restaurants: pay 13.9% more in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 2.6% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 1.8% less in Lusaka
Housing: pay 48.7% more in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 26.1% more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 15.6% more in Lusaka

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, clothing, restaurants, and groceries in Lusaka are more expensive than in Yaounde.

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Lusaka vs. Yaounde Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.9% more for restaurants

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.41 FCFA1,993	$5.53 ZMW110.20	+62.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.12 FCFA2,990	$5.03 ZMW100.18	-1.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 FCFA872	$0.75 ZMW15.03	-49.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 FCFA311	$0.47 ZMW9.39	-11.6%
Average			+13.9%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6% more for groceries

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.06 FCFA618	$1.20 ZMW23.92	+13.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.83 FCFA3,986	$5.15 ZMW102.63	-24.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.65 FCFA7,970	$6.52 ZMW129.88	-52.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 FCFA1,196	$1.94 ZMW38.66	-5.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 FCFA1,582	$2.87 ZMW57.22	+6.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 FCFA1,356	$1.53 ZMW30.42	-34.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 FCFA527	$1.10 ZMW21.94	+21.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 FCFA542	$1.65 ZMW32.94	+77.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 FCFA367	$0.70 ZMW13.88	+10.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 FCFA422	$1.16 ZMW23.20	+61.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 FCFA379	$0.83 ZMW16.51	+27.8%
Average			+2.6%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.8% less for transportation

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 FCFA3,169	$5.77 ZMW115.01	+6.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.07 FCFA9,966	$50.15 ZMW999.41	+193.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,433.47 FCFA19M	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	-76.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.01 FCFA2,342	$14.58 ZMW290.52	+263.4%
Average			-1.8%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.7% more for housing

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.21 FCFA29,898	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	+7.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$141.34 FCFA82,519	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	+172.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$183.59 FCFA107K	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	-2.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.74 FCFA35,459	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	+1.3%
Average			+48.7%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 26.1% more for childcare

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$615.85 FCFA360K	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	-77.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,347.16 FCFA1M	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	+608.9%
Average			+26.1%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.24 FCFA723	$1.26 ZMW25.05	+1.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.92 FCFA1,121	$2.82 ZMW56.21	+46.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.71 FCFA997	$3.02 ZMW60.11	+76.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.47 FCFA13,703	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	+132.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.54 FCFA4,983	$6.03 ZMW120.22	-29.3%
Average			+29.9%

Yaounde vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% more for clothing

	Yaounde	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.07 FCFA9,966	$23.28 ZMW463.85	+36.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.31 FCFA15,946	$15.45 ZMW307.88	-43.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$25.61 FCFA14,949	$45.19 ZMW900.42	+76.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.19 FCFA32,224	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	+31.4%
Average			+15.6%

Yaounde 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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