Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mbabane and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Mbabane: $747 a month against $1,351 in Bucharest, rent and utilities included – about $7,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

37

Cost of Living Index in Mbabane
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Mbabane Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Mbabane

🇸🇿 Eswatini

$747

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,351

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mbabane and in Bucharest

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $747 in Mbabane versus $1,351 in Bucharest.

Mbabane $747
Bucharest $1,351

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,223 in Mbabane versus $2,033 in Bucharest.

Mbabane $1,223
Bucharest $2,033

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,700 in Mbabane versus $2,715 in Bucharest.

Mbabane $1,700
Bucharest $2,715

Living in Mbabane costs roughly 45% less than in Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mbabane is 44% below, Bucharest is 1% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.27 SZL 169

$14.46 RON 68.4

-28.98%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.04 SZL 561

$57.7 RON 273

-40.95%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.74 SZL 94.6

$7.50 RON 35.46

-23.47%

Cappuccino

$2.62 SZL 43.16

$3.43 RON 16.20

-23.62%

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

$1.12 SZL 18.41

$2.46 RON 11.63

-54.47%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 SZL 10.21

$2.33 RON 11.01

-73.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.16 SZL 35.58

$3.80 RON 17.97

-43.16%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.45 SZL 40.46

$4.10 RON 19.41

-40.24%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.53 SZL 25.29

$1.65 RON 7.79

-7.27%

White Bread (500g)

$0.81 SZL 13.34

$1.35 RON 6.39

-40.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.75 SZL 28.82

$1.78 RON 8.42

-1.69%

Eggs

$1.78 SZL 29.32

$3.66 RON 17.33

-51.37%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.01 SZL 181

$8.57 RON 40.54

28.47%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.60 SZL 92.3

$6.80 RON 32.17

-17.65%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$4.98 SZL 82.0

$11.72 RON 55.4

-57.51%

Apples (1kg)

$1.74 SZL 28.72

$1.29 RON 6.11

34.88%

Banana (1kg)

$0.63 SZL 10.38

$1.56 RON 7.37

-59.62%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.25 SZL 20.56

$1.54 RON 7.28

-18.83%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.41 SZL 23.18

$2.48 RON 11.75

-43.15%

Potato (1kg)

$1.25 SZL 20.57

$0.83 RON 3.92

50.60%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 SZL 24.48

$0.80 RON 3.77

86.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.71 SZL 11.74

$0.84 RON 3.98

-15.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.76 SZL 12.56

$0.93 RON 4.39

-18.28%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.85 SZL 46.91

$6.44 RON 30.45

-55.75%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.93 SZL 97.8

$6.32 RON 29.91

-6.17%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 SZL 25.10

$1.26 RON 5.94

20.63%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.67 SZL 27.59

$1.60 RON 7.59

4.37%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.74 SZL 12.18

$0.81 RON 3.85

-8.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$21.13 RON 99.9

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.60 RON 2.86

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.38 SZL 22.80

$0.61 RON 2.91

126.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.03 SZL 50.0

$6.17 RON 29.19

-50.89%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.27 SZL 20.98

$1.96 RON 9.27

-35.20%

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

$28.1K RON 133.1K

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

$26.3K RON 124.3K

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

$64.0 SZL 1,056

$197 RON 931

-67.47%

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

$38.40 SZL 633

$8.34 RON 39.44

360.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.97 SZL 445

$9.19 RON 43.47

193.47%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$22.61 SZL 373

$49.87 RON 236

-54.66%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.04 SZL 50.1

$24.99 RON 118

-87.84%

Cinema Ticket

$3.65 SZL 60.1

$8.46 RON 40.01

-56.86%

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

$639 RON 3,023

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,330 SZL 104.3K

$14.4K RON 68.1K

-56.02%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$35.21 SZL 580

$90.6 RON 429

-61.14%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$14.80 SZL 244

$38.05 RON 180

-61.10%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$69.1 SZL 1,139

$79.7 RON 377

-13.27%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$53.2 SZL 877

$93.2 RON 441

-42.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$267 SZL 4,406

$673 RON 3,184

-60.29%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$179 SZL 2,950

$449 RON 2,123

-60.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$445 SZL 7,332

$1,098 RON 5,195

-59.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$347 SZL 5,720

$729 RON 3,448

-52.39%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$473 SZL 7,794

$3,740 RON 17.7K

-87.36%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$359 SZL 5,915

$2,189 RON 10.4K

-83.61%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,323 RON 6,259

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.25

6.74

7.57%

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

Last update for Mbabane: October 3, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Mbabane

$180 23.7%

Bucharest

$222 16.5% 23.5% $42

Accommodation & Living

Mbabane

$179 23.6%

Bucharest

$449 33.5% 151% $270

Eating Out

Mbabane

$153 20.2%

Bucharest

$226 16.8% 47% $72

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mbabane

$129 17.1%

Bucharest

$214 16% 65.7% $85

Clothing & Footwear

Mbabane

$78 10.2%

Bucharest

$136 10.1% 75% $58

Sport & Entertainment

Mbabane

$30 3.9%

Bucharest

$67 5% 123% $37

Getting Around

Mbabane

$9.9 * 1.3%

Bucharest

$28 2.1% 184% $18

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $267 in Mbabane and $673 in Bucharest. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $34.00 in Mbabane vs $58.0 in Bucharest for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $180 vs $222 per month, with Mbabane cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇸🇿 Mbabane

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

10:14 10:14 AM

11:14 11:14 AM

1 h ahead of Mbabane

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

94,874 Capital

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

Eswatini Lilangeni SZL L

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 SZL = 6.07 USD

100 SZL = 5.41 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.189 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to SZL – Eswatini Lilangeni Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇸🇿 Eswatini Lilangeni (L)

Eswatini Lilangeni exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 SZL (100 SZL = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.49 SZL (100 SZL = 5.41 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.3 RON (1 RON = 0.189 EUR).

USD to SZL in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Mbabane Bucharest 7,890 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Mbabane
Bucharest

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

Mbabane vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mbabane and Bucharest differ by about 81% in total monthly costs ($747 vs $1,351 including rent). Mbabane is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $1,121 in Mbabane and $2,027 in Bucharest to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $267 in Mbabane versus $673 in Bucharest. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Mbabane – a meal for two runs $34.00 versus $58.0 in Bucharest. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $747 per month in Mbabane versus $1,351 in Bucharest – a 81% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $747 in Mbabane versus $1,351 in Bucharest, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Mbabane but tight or insufficient in Bucharest. The gap between the two cities makes Mbabane 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.

Safety-wise, Mbabane and Bucharest are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Mbabane gentler on the wallet – expenses run 81% less than in Bucharest. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.