Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Uganda

Uganda vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Uganda is 12.5% cheaper than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% less in Uganda
Groceries: pay 39.9% less in Uganda
Transportation: pay 19.6% less in Uganda
Housing: pay 19.4% more in Uganda
Childcare: pay 4.9% less in Uganda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.5% more in Uganda
Clothing: pay 32.5% less in Uganda

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

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Uganda vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% less for restaurants

	Zambia	Uganda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$2.45 UGX10,151	-55.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$7.36 UGX30,452	+46.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 ZMW12.52	$0.37 UGX1,523	-41.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 ZMW7.20	$0.27 UGX1,107	-25.9%
Average			-27.1%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.9% less for groceries

	Zambia	Uganda
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 ZMW23.48	$0.91 UGX3,747	-23.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$2.18 UGX9,009	-57.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.37 ZMW126.88	$2.90 UGX11,976	-54.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ZMW35.36	$1.58 UGX6,530	-11.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$2.05 UGX8,472	-28.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 ZMW22.03	$0.95 UGX3,939	-13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.57 UGX2,353	-48.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$0.59 UGX2,430	-64.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.54 UGX2,225	-22.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.56 UGX2,302	-52.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.56 UGX2,302	-32.8%
Average			-39.9%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.6% less for transportation

	Zambia	Uganda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 ZMW108.98	$5.31 UGX21,961	-2.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$42.68 UGX177K	-14.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$7,361.98 UGX30M	-2.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$2.94 UGX12,181	-79.8%
Average			-19.6%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.4% more for housing

	Zambia	Uganda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$34.66 UGX143K	-37.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$280.45 ZMW5,588.55	$482.64 UGX2M	+72.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$165.11 ZMW3,290.10	$167.36 UGX692K	+1.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$53.08 UGX220K	-13.7%
Average			+19.4%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of housing

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pay 4.9% less for childcare

	Zambia	Uganda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$251.43 UGX1M	+81.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$8,279.19 UGX34M	-50.2%
Average			-4.9%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Uganda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$1.23 UGX5,075	-2.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$2.53 UGX10,471	-10.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$2.45 UGX10,151	-18.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$55.21 UGX228K	+1.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$7.36 UGX30,452	+22.0%
Average			+0.5%

Zambia vs. Uganda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.5% less for clothing

	Zambia	Uganda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$13.80 UGX57,098	-40.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$12.88 UGX53,292	-16.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$31.90 UGX132K	-29.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$43.25 UGX179K	-40.4%
Average			-32.5%

Zambia vs. Uganda - 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. Uganda

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Uganda?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 73.2% less likely to live below the poverty line in Uganda

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 3.1 times bigger than Uganda.

Moving from Zambia to Uganda · UN DESA 2020

5 people born in Zambia live in Uganda.

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