Cost of living comparison

Nairobi, Kenya

compared to

Kabul, Afghanistan

Kabul vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Kabul is 30.8% cheaper than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 31.2% less in Kabul
Groceries: pay 49.3% less in Kabul
Transportation: pay 51.2% less in Kabul
Housing: pay 81.3% more in Kabul
Childcare: pay 83.8% less in Kabul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.2% less in Kabul
Clothing: pay 46.0% less in Kabul

Expenses including childcare, transportation, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are lower in Kabul. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Kabul.

Kabul vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.2% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Kabul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 KES498.05	$2.63 AFN184	-31.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES796.87	$7.31 AFN512	+18.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 KES85.65	$0.38 AFN26	-43.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 KES68.82	$0.17 AFN12	-68.6%
Average			-31.2%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.3% less for groceries

	Nairobi	Kabul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 KES72.13	$0.25 AFN17	-55.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 KES722.48	$1.96 AFN137	-64.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.35 KES433.19	$3.05 AFN213	-9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 KES220.07	$1.48 AFN104	-13.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 KES350.21	$1.54 AFN108	-43.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 KES163.33	$0.25 AFN17	-80.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 KES64.58	$0.36 AFN26	-27.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 KES112.93	$0.37 AFN26	-57.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.08	$0.23 AFN16	-50.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 KES62.36	$0.15 AFN10	-69.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KES71.90	$0.15 AFN11	-72.8%
Average			-49.3%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.2% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Kabul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 KES798.05	$3.96 AFN277	-35.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.83 KES3,984.37	$8.93 AFN625	-71.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,266.80 KES2,490,233.99	$7,079.28 AFN495,290	-63.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.87 KES1,792.97	$9.07 AFN634	-34.6%
Average			-51.2%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 81.3% more for housing

	Nairobi	Kabul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.39 KES5,091.51	$130.18 AFN9,108	+230.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$428.53 KES55,387.25	$103.61 AFN7,249	-75.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.44 KES21,511.79	$89.85 AFN6,286	-46.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$22.39 KES2,894.23	$70.84 AFN4,956	+216.4%
Average			+81.3%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 83.8% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Kabul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.67 KES21,542.71	$23.40 AFN1,637	-86.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,008.06 KES1,035,041.33	$1,462.66 AFN102,333	-81.7%
Average			-83.8%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Kabul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 KES298.83	$2.93 AFN205	+26.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.24 KES289.63	$1.27 AFN89	-43.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 KES398.44	$2.63 AFN184	-14.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.12 KES5,702.13	$8.78 AFN614	-80.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.17 KES796.87	$2.19 AFN154	-64.4%
Average			-35.2%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.0% less for clothing

	Nairobi	Kabul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.84 KES2,176.94	$10.97 AFN767	-34.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.95 KES2,966.15	$16.03 AFN1,122	-30.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.84 KES7,992.47	$23.77 AFN1,663	-61.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 KES6,785.85	$22.38 AFN1,566	-57.4%
Average			-46.0%

Nairobi vs. Kabul - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Nairobi vs.

Ankara

Nairobi vs.

Madrid

Nairobi vs.

Ottawa

Nairobi vs.

Reykjavik

Nairobi vs.

Moscow

Nairobi vs.

Hong Kong

Nairobi vs.

Cairo

Nairobi vs.

Singapore

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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

Add prices for Nairobi

Add prices for Kabul

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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