Cost of living comparison

Zimbabwe

compared to

Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Zimbabwe Cost of Living Summary

Sao Tome and Principe is 22.1% more expensive than Zimbabwe overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.8% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Groceries: pay 72.7% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Transportation: pay 3.0% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Housing: pay 13.6% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Childcare: pay 49.9% less in Sao Tome and Principe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.7% more in Sao Tome and Principe
Clothing: pay 30.4% more in Sao Tome and Principe

The cost of groceries, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, and transportation in Sao Tome and Principe are more expensive than in Zimbabwe.

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Sao Tome and Principe vs. Zimbabwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Zimbabwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.8% more for restaurants

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.25 ZWL2,334.50	$8.96 STD200K	+23.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.38 ZWL1,730.75	$7.89 STD176K	+46.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 ZWL234.79	$1.84 STD41,004	+152.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 ZWL135.90	$1.25 STD27,770	+195.3%
Average			+53.8%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 72.7% more for groceries

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZWL322.00	$1.00 STD22,187	-0.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 ZWL1,701.44	$9.80 STD218K	+85.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.96 ZWL1,919.26	$5.87 STD131K	-1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.90 ZWL611.53	$4.85 STD108K	+155.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.12 ZWL682.33	$8.89 STD198K	+319.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 ZWL353.72	$1.70 STD37,881	+54.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZWL236.30	$0.79 STD17,644	+7.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 ZWL328.63	$1.63 STD36,419	+60.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZWL188.63	$1.57 STD34,958	+167.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 ZWL217.09	$1.31 STD29,299	+95.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 ZWL231.09	$1.08 STD23,986	+50.0%
Average			+72.7%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.0% more for transportation

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.57 ZWL2,116.06	$6.46 STD144K	-1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.00 ZWL14,490.00	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,500.00 ZWL8M	$24,634.18 STD549M	+4.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.50 ZWL6,279.00	$22.43 STD500K	+15.0%
Average			+3.0%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.6% more for housing

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.24 ZWL28,414.33	$66.91 STD1M	-24.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$282.50 ZWL90,965.00	$284.91 STD6M	+0.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.05 ZWL68,280.10	$195.02 STD4M	-8.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.83 ZWL17,977.33	$174.83 STD4M	+213.1%
Average			+13.6%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of housing

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pay 49.9% less for childcare

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$331.89 ZWL107K	$228.62 STD5M	-31.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,027.78 ZWL2M	$2,194.77 STD49M	-63.6%
Average			-49.9%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.38 ZWL442.75	$1.70 STD37,799	+23.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 ZWL825.12	$2.26 STD50,442	-11.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.75 ZWL563.50	$2.26 STD50,420	+29.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.58 ZWL12,745.83	$33.92 STD756K	-14.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$20.16 STD449K	+101.6%
Average			+19.7%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.4% more for clothing

	Zimbabwe	Sao Tome and Principe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$22.24 ZWL7,160.03	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.41 ZWL5,282.85	$75.02 STD2M	+357.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$42.46 ZWL13,673.21	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$49.35 ZWL15,890.90	$18.36 STD409K	-62.8%
Average			+30.4%

Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe - 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: Zimbabwe vs. Sao Tome and Principe

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 44.9% more likely to live below the poverty line in Sao Tome and Principe

Size Comparison · See true size

Zimbabwe is about 405 times bigger than Sao Tome and Principe.

Moving from Zimbabwe to Sao Tome and Principe · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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