Cost of living comparison

Gaborone, Botswana

compared to

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 0.6% more expensive than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 14.3% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 0.9% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.7% more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 7.9% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 53.3% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.6% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 30.2% less in Nairobi

The cost of childcare, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Nairobi are more expensive than in Gaborone. Expenses including clothing, restaurants, housing, and groceries are lower in Nairobi.

Nairobi vs. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Gaborone, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.3% less for restaurants

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.50 BWP101.88	$3.85 KES498.82	-48.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.00 BWP81.50	$6.17 KES798.11	+2.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 BWP11.32	$0.66 KES85.79	-20.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 BWP6.63	$0.53 KES68.93	+9.1%
Average			-14.3%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.9% less for groceries

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.81 BWP11.04	$0.56 KES72.25	-31.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 BWP45.78	$5.59 KES723.60	+66.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.06 BWP68.78	$3.35 KES433.86	-33.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 BWP31.14	$1.70 KES220.41	-25.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.27 BWP30.90	$2.71 KES350.75	+19.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 BWP10.52	$1.26 KES163.59	+63.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 BWP8.42	$0.50 KES64.68	-19.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.88 BWP12.01	$0.87 KES113.11	-1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 BWP8.77	$0.46 KES59.17	-29.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 BWP8.12	$0.48 KES62.46	-19.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 BWP7.44	$0.56 KES72.01	+1.6%
Average			-0.9%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7% more for transportation

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.27 BWP58.08	$6.17 KES799.28	+44.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.18 BWP383.06	$30.83 KES3,990.54	+9.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,486.26 BWP305,636.11	$19,266.80 KES2,494,087.35	-14.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.49 BWP264.88	$13.87 KES1,795.74	-28.8%
Average			+2.7%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.9% less for housing

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$90.60 BWP1,231.46	$39.39 KES5,099.38	-56.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$254.84 BWP3,463.88	$428.53 KES55,472.96	+68.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$149.91 BWP2,037.57	$166.44 KES21,545.08	+11.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.21 BWP668.89	$22.39 KES2,898.71	-54.5%
Average			-7.9%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 53.3% more for childcare

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$180.24 BWP2,449.86	$166.67 KES21,576.04	-7.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,740.68 BWP50,843.84	$8,008.06 KES1,036,642.95	+114.1%
Average			+53.3%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 BWP30.56	$2.31 KES299.29	+2.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 BWP32.20	$2.24 KES290.08	-5.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.75 BWP50.94	$3.08 KES399.05	-17.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.19 BWP437.51	$44.12 KES5,710.95	+37.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.75 BWP91.69	$6.17 KES798.11	-8.6%
Average			+1.6%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.2% less for clothing

	Gaborone	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.14 BWP599.95	$16.84 KES2,180.31	-61.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.17 BWP301.27	$22.95 KES2,970.74	+3.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.20 BWP1,035.77	$61.84 KES8,004.83	-18.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.16 BWP1,266.21	$52.50 KES6,796.35	-43.6%
Average			-30.2%

Gaborone vs. Nairobi - 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: March 2025

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See the cost of living in Botswana vs. Kenya. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Botswana and Kenya.

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