Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.3 times more expensive than Rwanda overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 55.1% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 93.1% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 3.3 times more in Costa Rica

The cost of clothing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Rwanda. Notably, clothing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Rwanda Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Rwanda, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.26 RWF4,565	$9.75 CRC4,928.25	+198.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.16 RWF8,624	$9.08 CRC4,591.54	+47.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 RWF1,251	$2.01 CRC1,016.55	+124.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 RWF659	$1.49 CRC754.12	+216.4%
Average			+146.8%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.01 RWF1,411	$2.53 CRC1,280.26	+151.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.26 RWF3,159	$3.76 CRC1,902.42	+66.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.66 RWF3,716	$6.98 CRC3,526.99	+162.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.67 RWF2,333	$3.21 CRC1,624.08	+92.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.19 RWF3,068	$3.97 CRC2,007.67	+81.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 RWF1,927	$1.79 CRC904.70	+29.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 RWF730	$0.62 CRC311.90	+18.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.86 RWF1,202	$1.22 CRC615.01	+41.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF676	$1.22 CRC617.66	+152.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 RWF314	$1.09 CRC553.27	+386.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.33 RWF455	$1.11 CRC563.09	+242.5%
Average			+129.6%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.1% more for transportation

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 RWF6,267	$5.63 CRC2,845.00	+25.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.66 RWF34,494	$49.00 CRC24,773.68	+98.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,668.41 RWF28,914,328	$35,063.37 CRC17,727,904.42	+69.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.33 RWF17,247	$15.62 CRC7,898.54	+26.7%
Average			+55.1%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 93.1% more for housing

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.20 RWF36,650	$48.50 CRC24,521.63	+85.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$489.52 RWF684,813	$778.04 CRC393,372.82	+58.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$271.95 RWF380,452	$547.50 CRC276,815.54	+101.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.04 RWF42,024	$68.26 CRC34,510.84	+127.2%
Average			+93.1%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$149.39 RWF208,995	$519.07 CRC262,438.54	+247.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,609.00 RWF13,442,626	$10,987.74 CRC5,555,360.23	+14.3%
Average			+130.9%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.09 RWF1,522	$2.73 CRC1,378.84	+150.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.22 RWF3,100	$3.65 CRC1,847.57	+64.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.36 RWF3,297	$4.58 CRC2,316.80	+94.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.83 RWF44,527	$59.46 CRC30,063.04	+86.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.63 RWF5,073	$8.63 CRC4,361.23	+137.9%
Average			+106.9%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.3 times more for clothing

	Rwanda	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.68 RWF23,334	$65.32 CRC33,027.38	+291.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.76 RWF30,436	$44.54 CRC22,519.43	+104.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$26.59 RWF37,200	$110.39 CRC55,810.49	+315.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$31.43 RWF43,963	$97.22 CRC49,152.46	+209.4%
Average			+230.2%

Rwanda vs. Costa Rica - 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: February 2025

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