Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Ethiopia

Ethiopia vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Ethiopia is 33.1% more expensive than Zambia overall.

Groceries: pay 32.6% less in Ethiopia
Transportation: pay 8.8% more in Ethiopia
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Ethiopia
Childcare: pay 33.8% more in Ethiopia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.3% less in Ethiopia
Clothing: pay 89.7% more in Ethiopia

The cost of housing, clothing, childcare, and transportation in Ethiopia are more expensive than in Zambia. Expenses including groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are lower in Ethiopia. Notably, housing and clothing are significantly more expensive in Ethiopia.

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Ethiopia vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ethiopia instead of Zambia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay about the same for restaurants

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$4.00 ETB654.34	-27.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	+29.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 ZMW12.52	$0.61 ETB99.06	-3.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 ZMW7.20	$0.66 ETB107.50	+81.9%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.6% less for groceries

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 ZMW23.48	$1.19 ETB194.58	+0.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$3.70 ETB604.57	-28.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.37 ZMW126.88	$4.09 ETB669.40	-35.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ZMW35.36	$1.77 ETB289.63	-0.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$4.59 ETB750.34	+59.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 ZMW22.03	$2.44 ETB399.44	+120.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.30 ETB48.73	-72.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$0.99 ETB161.65	-40.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.31 ETB50.42	-55.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.22 ETB35.99	-81.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.49 ETB79.77	-41.1%
Average			-32.6%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.8% more for transportation

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 ZMW108.98	$3.53 ETB577.22	-35.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	-57.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$55,000.00 ETB9M	+629.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$3.53 ETB576.64	-75.8%
Average			+8.8%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+286.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	$706.95 ETB116K	+152.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	+139.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+154.9%
Average			+152.5%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of housing

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pay 33.8% more for childcare

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	-1.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+81.4%
Average			+33.8%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$0.80 ETB130.87	-36.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$0.92 ETB150.32	-67.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	+165.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	-19.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$3.75 ETB613.45	-37.8%
Average			-32.3%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 89.7% more for clothing

	Zambia	Ethiopia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	+42.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	+358.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	+74.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	+14.0%
Average			+89.7%

Zambia vs. Ethiopia - 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: Zambia vs. Ethiopia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ethiopia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 44.8% less likely to live below the poverty line in Ethiopia

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 1.5 times smaller than Ethiopia.

Moving from Zambia to Ethiopia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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