Cost of living comparison

 Freetown, Sierra Leone
compared to
 Bamako, Mali
Bamako vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Bamako is 0.8% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants
pay 7.0% more in Bamako
Groceries
pay 26.1% more in Bamako
Transportation
pay 13.4% more in Bamako
Housing
pay 58.7% less in Bamako
Entertainment and Sports
pay 8.4% more in Bamako

The cost of groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Bamako are more expensive than in Freetown.

Bamako vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bamako instead of Freetown, you would:

pay 7.0% more for restaurants

 
Freetown
Bamako
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $3.00
SLL62,908
$6.70
F CFA3,876
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
SLL209,695
$6.42
F CFA3,713
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.03
SLL21,591
$0.77
F CFA446

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pay 26.1% more for groceries

 
Freetown
Bamako
Bread
1 loaf
$0.50
SLL10,485
$1.10
F CFA637
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? ??
Milk (1 gallon) $7.57
SLL158,756
$9.46
F CFA5,470

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pay 13.4% more for transportation

 
Freetown
Bamako
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.83
SLL101,357
$5.48
F CFA3,170
Monthly public transit pass ?? ??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $12,000.00
SLL251,634,000
??

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pay 58.7% less for housing

 
Freetown
Bamako
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$100.00
SLL2,096,950
$41.27
F CFA23,855
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,361.67
SLL28,553,469
??
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $978.33
SLL20,515,161
??

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Freetown
Bamako
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? ??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? ??

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pay 8.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Freetown
Bamako
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.50
SLL31,454
$2.39
F CFA1,379
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.74
SLL36,435
$1.89
F CFA1,092
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.00
SLL62,908
$0.93
F CFA539

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Freetown
Bamako
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$10.00
SLL209,695
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$8.00
SLL167,756
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$20.00
SLL419,390
??

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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: June 2025
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Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Sierra Leone vs. Mali. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Sierra Leone and Mali.

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