Cost of living comparison

 Lusaka, Zambia
compared to
 Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 2.1 times more expensive than Lusaka.

Restaurants
pay 52.1% more in Tokyo
Groceries
pay 96.4% more in Tokyo
Transportation
pay 88.2% more in Tokyo
Housing
pay 3.0 times more in Tokyo
Childcare
pay 2.6 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.3 times more in Tokyo
Clothing
pay 63.0% more in Tokyo

The cost of housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Tokyo are more expensive than in Lusaka. Notably, housing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

Tokyo vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Lusaka, you would:

pay 52.1% more for restaurants

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $7.21
ZMW193.75
$6.51
¥949
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$3.82
ZMW102.67
$5.21
¥759
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.71
ZMW19.17
$1.12
¥163

Improve prices ·

pay 96.4% more for groceries

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Bread
1 loaf
$0.74
ZMW19.87
$1.63
¥238
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.64
ZMW97.68
$7.01
¥1,021
Milk (1 gallon) $4.85
ZMW130.37
$5.89
¥858

Improve prices ·

pay 88.2% more for transportation

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.77
ZMW128.04
$4.42
¥644
Monthly public transit pass $37.04
ZMW995.07
$58.62
¥8,538
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $8,004.53
ZMW215,065.29
$21,767.76
¥3,170,365

Improve prices ·

pay 3.0 times more for housing

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$125.92
ZMW3,383.19
$31.86
¥4,640
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $214.42
ZMW5,761.10
$1,120.28
¥163,163
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $114.96
ZMW3,088.70
$582.98
¥84,908

Improve prices ·

pay 2.6 times more for childcare

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $176.79
ZMW4,749.97
$533.29
¥77,671
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $6,570.42
ZMW176,533.85
$14,506.96
¥2,112,866

Improve prices ·

pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $0.97
ZMW25.98
$3.26
¥474
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.07
ZMW55.71
$3.40
¥496
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.49
ZMW66.88
$3.91
¥569

Improve prices ·

pay 63.0% more for clothing

 
Lusaka
Tokyo
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$18.43
ZMW495.31
$52.60
¥7,661
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$18.78
ZMW504.69
$36.87
¥5,370
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$90.18
ZMW2,422.86
$63.41
¥9,236

Improve prices ·
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: May 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Tokyo or Lusaka. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.