Cost of living comparison

Thimphu, Bhutan

compared to

Kigali, Rwanda

Kigali vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 2.5 times more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 83.5% more in Kigali
Groceries: pay 8.7% more in Kigali
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Kigali
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Kigali
Childcare: pay 7.4 times more in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 35.1% more in Kigali

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Kigali are more expensive than in Thimphu. Notably, childcare, housing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Kigali.

Kigali vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kigali instead of Thimphu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 83.5% more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.95 BTN251.27	$3.26 RWF4,676	+10.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.95 BTN251.27	$6.16 RWF8,833	+109.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 BTN47.24	$0.89 RWF1,282	+61.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.19 BTN15.91	$0.47 RWF675	+152.6%
Average			+83.5%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.7% more for groceries

	Thimphu	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$0.94 BTN80.41	$1.01 RWF1,445	+7.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.68 BTN143.22	$2.26 RWF3,236	+34.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.17 BTN270.13	$2.66 RWF3,807	-16.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.20 BTN187.95	$1.67 RWF2,390	-24.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.74 BTN148.17	$2.19 RWF3,142	+26.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 BTN91.18	$1.38 RWF1,974	+28.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 BTN55.85	$0.52 RWF747	-20.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 BTN70.21	$0.86 RWF1,231	+4.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 BTN31.46	$0.48 RWF693	+31.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 BTN19.60	$0.22 RWF322	-2.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN21.88	$0.33 RWF466	+26.7%
Average			+8.7%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Thimphu	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.93 BTN334.77	$4.48 RWF6,419	+14.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$3.97 BTN338.24	$24.66 RWF35,333	+521.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,215.98 BTN1,809,146.99	$20,668.41 RWF29,617,255	-2.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.09 BTN1,286.50	$12.33 RWF17,666	-18.3%
Average			+128.7%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.25 BTN2,664.40	$26.20 RWF37,541	-16.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$124.45 BTN10,612.31	$489.52 RWF701,461	+293.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$79.38 BTN6,769.15	$271.95 RWF389,701	+242.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$16.69 BTN1,422.96	$30.04 RWF43,045	+80.0%
Average			+149.9%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 7.4 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$246.05 BTN20,981.08	$149.39 RWF214,076	-39.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$677.73 BTN57,792.20	$9,609.00 RWF13,769,425	+1317.8%
Average			+639.2%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.43 BTN548.43	$1.09 RWF1,559	-83.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.53 BTN130.66	$2.22 RWF3,175	+44.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 BTN326.65	$2.36 RWF3,377	-38.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.11 BTN4,187.84	$31.83 RWF45,609	-35.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.54 BTN301.52	$3.63 RWF5,196	+2.5%
Average			-21.9%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.1% more for clothing

	Thimphu	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$9.43 BTN804.07	$16.68 RWF23,902	+76.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$11.79 BTN1,005.08	$21.76 RWF31,176	+84.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$32.41 BTN2,763.97	$26.59 RWF38,104	-18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.41 BTN2,763.97	$31.43 RWF45,032	-3.0%
Average			+35.1%

Thimphu vs. Kigali - 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: May 2025

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