Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kigali vs. Bishkek Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 16.3% more expensive than Bishkek.

Restaurants: pay 9.8% more in Kigali
Groceries: pay 14.1% more in Kigali
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Kigali
Housing: pay 31.8% more in Kigali
Childcare: pay 10.3% more in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0% more in Kigali
Clothing: pay 61.2% less in Kigali

The cost of transportation, housing, groceries, childcare, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Kigali are more expensive than in Bishkek. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Kigali.

Kigali vs. Bishkek Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kigali instead of Bishkek, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.8% more for restaurants

	Bishkek	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KGS504.62	$3.26 RWF4,556	-43.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.68 KGS494.53	$6.16 RWF8,606	+8.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 KGS58.83	$0.89 RWF1,249	+32.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 KGS28.83	$0.47 RWF658	+42.3%
Average			+9.8%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.1% more for groceries

	Bishkek	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$0.48 KGS41.56	$1.01 RWF1,408	+111.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.14 KGS447.09	$2.26 RWF3,152	-56.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.25 KGS282.36	$2.66 RWF3,708	-18.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.76 KGS152.87	$1.67 RWF2,329	-5.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.41 KGS210.07	$2.19 RWF3,062	-9.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.47 KGS41.01	$1.38 RWF1,923	+192.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 KGS74.00	$0.52 RWF728	-38.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 KGS82.10	$0.86 RWF1,199	-9.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 KGS78.51	$0.48 RWF675	-46.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 KGS19.78	$0.22 RWF314	-1.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.24 KGS20.89	$0.33 RWF454	+35.4%
Average			+14.1%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Bishkek	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.90 KGS252.69	$4.48 RWF6,254	+54.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.54 KGS656.00	$24.66 RWF34,422	+227.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$39,443.16 KGS3,431,408.58	$20,668.41 RWF28,853,970	-47.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.18 KGS363.33	$12.33 RWF17,211	+195.2%
Average			+107.2%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.8% more for housing

	Bishkek	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.05 KGS1,048.01	$26.20 RWF36,574	+117.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$474.69 KGS41,295.91	$489.52 RWF683,384	+3.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$353.07 KGS30,715.49	$271.95 RWF379,658	-23.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.19 KGS2,017.39	$30.04 RWF41,936	+29.5%
Average			+31.8%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 10.3% more for childcare

	Bishkek	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$230.15 KGS20,022.16	$149.39 RWF208,559	-35.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,168.50 KGS536,636.98	$9,609.00 RWF13,414,565	+55.8%
Average			+10.3%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bishkek	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.16 KGS100.92	$1.09 RWF1,519	-6.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.06 KGS178.86	$2.22 RWF3,094	+7.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.56 KGS135.74	$2.36 RWF3,290	+51.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.01 KGS3,741.32	$31.83 RWF44,434	-26.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.35 KGS378.46	$3.63 RWF5,062	-16.6%
Average			+2.0%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 61.2% less for clothing

	Bishkek	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.60 KGS3,532.33	$16.68 RWF23,286	-58.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.86 KGS3,380.95	$21.76 RWF30,373	-44.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.88 KGS9,037.27	$26.59 RWF37,122	-74.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.67 KGS8,410.32	$31.43 RWF43,872	-67.5%
Average			-61.2%

Bishkek vs. Kigali - 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: January 2025

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