Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nicaragua vs. Zimbabwe Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 16.2% more expensive than Zimbabwe overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.0% more in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 13.6% more in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 44.8% less in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 8.5% less in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 27.6% less in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.8% more in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 2.6 times more in Nicaragua

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

Nicaragua vs. Zimbabwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Zimbabwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.0% more for restaurants

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.25 ZWL2,334.50	$4.57 NIO167.54	-37.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ZWL1,771.00	$6.80 NIO249.70	+23.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 ZWL192.35	$0.82 NIO30.05	+37.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 ZWL134.02	$0.60 NIO22.01	+44.1%
Average			+17.0%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% more for groceries

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.01 ZWL326.12	$1.74 NIO63.99	+72.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.30 ZWL1,707.41	$3.29 NIO120.87	-37.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.96 ZWL1,918.06	$4.55 NIO166.90	-23.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.98 ZWL636.46	$1.98 NIO72.59	+0.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.37 ZWL762.99	$2.48 NIO90.82	+4.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 ZWL349.08	$1.77 NIO64.95	+63.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZWL234.29	$0.39 NIO14.44	-45.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.07 ZWL344.68	$0.82 NIO29.96	-23.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 ZWL196.88	$0.87 NIO32.04	+42.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 ZWL211.93	$1.24 NIO45.67	+89.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 ZWL258.09	$0.88 NIO32.12	+9.2%
Average			+13.6%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.8% less for transportation

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.92 ZWL1,906.80	$4.95 NIO181.64	-16.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.50 ZWL13,685.00	$5.00 NIO183.61	-88.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,500.00 ZWL7,567,000.00	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	-2.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.00 ZWL6,440.00	$5.56 NIO204.17	-72.2%
Average			-44.8%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.5% less for housing

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$159.29 ZWL51,291.92	$36.35 NIO1,333.96	-77.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$301.47 ZWL97,073.53	$326.67 NIO11,986.84	+8.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$202.31 ZWL65,143.08	$283.96 NIO10,419.68	+40.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$59.14 ZWL19,042.20	$55.87 NIO2,050.11	-5.5%
Average			-8.5%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 27.6% less for childcare

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$231.11 ZWL74,417.78	$118.12 NIO4,334.53	-48.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,406.25 ZWL2,062,812.50	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	-6.3%
Average			-27.6%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.62 ZWL523.25	$1.31 NIO47.93	-19.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.52 ZWL810.92	$2.16 NIO79.30	-14.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.35 ZWL434.70	$2.66 NIO97.58	+97.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.19 ZWL14,551.92	$33.69 NIO1,236.40	-25.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.25 ZWL3,622.50	$8.00 NIO293.56	-28.9%
Average			+1.8%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.6 times more for clothing

	Zimbabwe	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$20.71 ZWL6,668.08	$61.83 NIO2,268.67	+198.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.58 ZWL5,339.83	$61.88 NIO2,270.47	+273.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.80 ZWL15,712.98	$108.23 NIO3,971.55	+121.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$58.17 ZWL18,731.73	$89.99 NIO3,302.29	+54.7%
Average			+162.1%

Zimbabwe vs. Nicaragua - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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