Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bulawayo and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Bulawayo: $747 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $20,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

36

Cost of Living Index in Bulawayo
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Bulawayo Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Bulawayo

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

$747

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bulawayo and in Barcelona

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Bulawayo and in Barcelona actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $747 in Bulawayo versus $2,453 in Barcelona.

Bulawayo $747
Barcelona $2,453

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,194 in Bulawayo versus $3,509 in Barcelona.

Bulawayo $1,194
Barcelona $3,509

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,642 in Bulawayo versus $4,564 in Barcelona.

Bulawayo $1,642
Barcelona $4,564

Living in Bulawayo costs roughly 70% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Bulawayo is 45% below, Barcelona is 80% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.37 ZWL 116

$17.59 €15.80

-75.16%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$29.90 ZWL 795

$67.5 €60.6

-55.70%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.10 ZWL 136

$13.53 €12.15

-62.31%

Cappuccino

$2.14 ZWL 56.8

$3.19 €2.87

-32.92%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.52 ZWL 13.80

$2.91 €2.62

-82.13%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.36 ZWL 9.60

$1.89 €1.70

-80.95%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.46 ZWL 38.93

$4.01 €3.60

-63.59%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.97 ZWL 52.4

$4.53 €4.07

-56.51%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 ZWL 43.28

$1.31 €1.17

24.43%

White Bread (500g)

$0.98 ZWL 26.06

$2.02 €1.81

-51.49%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.55 ZWL 41.18

$1.85 €1.66

-16.22%

Eggs

$1.86 ZWL 49.38

$4.83 €4.34

-61.49%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.42 ZWL 250

$16.74 €15.04

-43.73%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.82 ZWL 102

$9.12 €8.19

-58.11%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$4.60 ZWL 122

$19.64 €17.64

-76.58%

Apples (1kg)

$1.80 ZWL 47.80

$2.98 €2.68

-39.60%

Banana (1kg)

$1.55 ZWL 41.16

$2.02 €1.81

-23.27%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.40 ZWL 63.8

$2.70 €2.43

-11.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.04 ZWL 27.66

$2.80 €2.52

-62.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.26 ZWL 33.51

$2.09 €1.87

-39.71%

Onion (1kg)

$1.44 ZWL 38.17

$2.07 €1.86

-30.43%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.10 ZWL 29.28

$1.46 €1.31

-24.66%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.77 ZWL 20.45

$0.94 €0.84

-18.09%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.51 ZWL 40.18

$6.87 €6.17

-78.02%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.02 ZWL 134

$7.89 €7.09

-36.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 ZWL 36.11

$1.41 €1.26

-3.55%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.83 ZWL 48.69

$2.54 €2.28

-27.95%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.72 ZWL 19.07

$3.14 €2.82

-77.07%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$29.51 ZWL 784

$25.45 €22.86

15.95%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.06 ZWL 81.2

$2.99 €2.69

2.34%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.98 ZWL 52.6

$1.49 €1.34

32.89%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.03 ZWL 134

$33.37 €29.99

-84.93%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.69 ZWL 44.97

$1.80 €1.62

-6.11%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$25.1K ZWL 667.6K

$33.2K €29.8K

-24.33%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$25.4K ZWL 675.1K

$31.7K €28.5K

-19.88%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$93.0 ZWL 2,473

$180 €162

-48.43%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$17.52 ZWL 466

$13.84 €12.43

26.59%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$107 ZWL 2,832

$33.70 €30.28

216.14%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.99 ZWL 824

$51.5 €46.28

-39.84%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.38 ZWL 542

$15.96 €14.34

27.69%

Cinema Ticket

$10.09 ZWL 268

$10.99 €9.88

-8.19%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$228 ZWL 6,053

$917 €824

-75.15%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,484 ZWL 92.6K

$16.5K €14.8K

-78.86%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$20.95 ZWL 557

$87.0 €78.2

-75.93%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$11.80 ZWL 314

$38.51 €34.60

-69.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$46.98 ZWL 1,249

$106 €95.1

-55.60%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$57.8 ZWL 1,536

$120 €108

-51.71%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$172 ZWL 4,574

$1,699 €1,527

-89.87%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$106 ZWL 2,804

$1,355 €1,218

-92.21%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$406 ZWL 10.8K

$2,603 €2,339

-84.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$323 ZWL 8,577

$2,062 €1,853

-84.35%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,061 ZWL 54.8K

$6,915 €6,213

-70.20%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,031 ZWL 54.0K

$5,128 €4,607

-60.40%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$303 ZWL 8,059

$2,211 €1,986

-86.29%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

357.32%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Bulawayo: October 24, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bulawayo

$217 29.1%

Barcelona

$228 9.3% 5% $11

Groceries & Markets

Bulawayo

$175 23.4%

Barcelona

$322 13.1% 84.1% $147

Accommodation & Living

Bulawayo

$106 14.1%

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3% 1185% $1.2K

Eating Out

Bulawayo

$91 12.2%

Barcelona

$268 10.9% 196% $177

Clothing & Footwear

Bulawayo

$62 8.3%

Barcelona

$158 6.4% 155% $96

Sport & Entertainment

Bulawayo

$51 6.9%

Barcelona

$74 3% 43.6% $22

Getting Around

Bulawayo

$45 6.1%

Barcelona

$48 2% 6.9% $3.1

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $172 in Bulawayo and $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 7.3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $30 in Bulawayo vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $175 vs $322 per month, with Bulawayo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇿🇼 Bulawayo

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

19:45 7:45 PM

18:45 6:45 PM

1 h behind Bulawayo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

653,337

1,660,122

💱 Currency

Zimbabwean Dollar ZWL $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZWL = 3.76 USD

100 ZWL = 3.38 EUR

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to ZWL – Zimbabwean Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇼 Zimbabwean Dollar ($)

Zimbabwean Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 26.58 ZWL (100 ZWL = 3.76 USD). 1 EUR = 29.59 ZWL (100 ZWL = 3.38 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

USD to ZWL in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Bulawayo Barcelona 7,360 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Bulawayo
Barcelona

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Bulawayo vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Bulawayo and Barcelona differ by about 229% in total monthly costs ($747 vs $2,453 including rent). Bulawayo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 86% lower in Bulawayo. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $172 in Bulawayo versus $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $228 in Bulawayo versus $917 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 84% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $747 in Bulawayo versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Bulawayo but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Bulawayo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Bulawayo wins on affordability, Barcelona on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.