Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Sao Tome and Principe

Name: Sao Tome and Principe
Address: ST

For one person, living is cheaper in Sao Tome and Principe: $1,214 a month against $1,568 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $4,200 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Cape Town outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
Learn more

Cape Town Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Sao Tome and Principe
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Sao Tome and Principe Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe

$1,214

/mo nomad

🙂 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 3.1% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe without rent, and 29.1% more expensive with rent.

🙂 Family of 3: Cape Town is 13.9% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe without rent, and 25.3% more expensive with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$8.81 STN 192

33.71%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$45.70 STN 999

1.86%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$8.62 STN 188

-30.86%

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$2.42 STN 52.8

2.07%

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

$1.33 R 21.91

$1.74 STN 38.06

-23.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$1.12 STN 24.57

-8.04%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.72

$1.76 STN 38.46

71.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.4

$1.80 STN 39.44

103.33%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 22.96

$1.58 STN 34.44

-12.03%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$1.53 STN 33.42

-22.22%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$1.95 STN 42.63

8.21%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$4.50 STN 98.3

-33.11%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$19.41 STN 424

-53.84%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$19.55 STN 427

-65.98%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$20.90 STN 457

-55.55%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$3.72 STN 81.2

-50.81%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$1.76 STN 38.50

7.95%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$3.58 STN 78.3

-51.12%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$3.37 STN 73.7

-37.98%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$2.92 STN 63.9

-46.92%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$2.37 STN 51.7

-37.13%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$0.51 STN 11.06

154.90%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$1.98 STN 43.32

-41.41%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$2.25 STN 49.25

64.89%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 100

$8.12 STN 177

-25.37%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

$1.41 STN 30.74

-1.42%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.32

$1.70 STN 37.22

29.41%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 24.98

$1.41 STN 30.77

7.09%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

$1.73 STN 37.81

-63.58%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

$2.64 STN 57.8

-42.05%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

$13.90 STN 304

-65.40%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$1.69 STN 37.00

-6.51%

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

$35.5K R 585.7K

$24.3K STN 531.2K

46.01%

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

$31.7K R 523.8K

$31.1K STN 678.7K

2.22%

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

$116 R 1,920

$225 STN 4,918

-48.30%

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

$28.37 R 468

$31.43 STN 687

-9.74%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

$67.6 STN 1,477

-39.82%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$33.47 STN 731

45.95%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$25.52 STN 558

-56.39%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$20.45 STN 447

-56.82%

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

$261 R 4,314

$228 STN 4,976

14.80%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$2,161 STN 47.2K

210.14%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$75.8 STN 1,656

-57.43%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$18.52 STN 405

478.02%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$283 STN 6,178

258.97%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$195 STN 4,256

267.24%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$946 STN 20.7K

90.29%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$441 STN 9,627

201.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$1,860 STN 40.6K

25.31%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$1,129 STN 24.7K

34.05%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$431 STN 9,428

279.18%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

7.38

48.64%

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Sao Tome and Principe: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Sao Tome and Principe

$195 16.1% 72.8% $521

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Sao Tome and Principe

$402 33.3% 80.7% $179

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Sao Tome and Principe

$324 26.9% 74.8% $139

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Sao Tome and Principe

$149 12.4% 14.1% $24

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Sao Tome and Principe

$42 * 3.5% 69.8% $98

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Sao Tome and Principe

$21 * 1.7% 72.7% $55

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Sao Tome and Principe

$74 6.2% 11.8% $7.9

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe

🕒 Local time

12:54 12:54 PM

10:54 10:54 AM

2 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

204,327

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Sao Tome and Principe Dobra STN Db

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

100 STN = 4.58 USD

100 STN = 4.08 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

STN, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.06 USD). 1 EUR = 18.49 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

Sao Tome and Principe Dobra exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 21.85 STN (100 STN = 4.58 USD). 1 EUR = 24.48 STN (100 STN = 4.08 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

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