Addis Ababa vs Asmara - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Addis Ababa	Asmara
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1289	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3111	$1268
🏠 One person rent	$739	$227
🏘️ Family rent	$1202	$385
🍽️ Food expenses	$334	$208
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.2	$46.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$202	$112
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	33	8
😀 Quality of life	46	14
🏙️ Population	5.7M	963K

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 142% more expensive than in Asmara. Cities ranked 4519th and 8435th ($1289 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Ethiopia and Eritrea, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs Eritrea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 0.2 months in Asmara. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Asmara ranked 1st in Eritrea, while ranked 7005th and 9205th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Asmara infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/addis-ababa/asmara.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Asmara infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/addis-ababa/asmara" target="_blank">Addis Ababa vs Asmara - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Addis Ababa vs Asmara

Prices for goods and services in Addis Ababa and Asmara are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Addis Ababa	Asmara
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.52	$3.14
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40	$20.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.5	$4.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$1.08	$1.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$0.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$733	$220
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$457	$148
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1328	$400
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$823	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.5	$37.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$58.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$129	$27
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.11%	12.74%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2572	$1543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1694	$940
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$0.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.94	$12.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.63	$6.01
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.41	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.27	$0.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$1.18
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.24	$1.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.71	$7.14
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$4.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$6.88
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.78	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.01
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.5	$0.33
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.64	$1.1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.51	$7.77
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.99	$1.48
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.05	$2.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.54	$3.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.04	$2.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.42	$1.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.6	$1.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.1	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.72	$4.19
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$182	$14.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$1.82	$3.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.5	$26.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.7	$62.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$94.8	$84.4
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30210	$3125

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$1031
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$1039
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$802
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$864
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$1175
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$1175
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$1016
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$1169
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$559
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$557
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$502
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$826
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$586
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$829
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$694
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$560
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$498
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$925
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$533
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$499
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$500
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$971
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$499
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$522
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$508
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$522
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$517
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$857
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$512
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$519
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$724
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$500
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$498
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$527
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$560
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$879
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$896
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$627
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$549
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$910

Cities near Asmara

Distance	City	Cost of living
51 km or 32 mi	Mendefera	$498
63 km or 39 mi	Massawa	$499
71 km or 44 mi	Keren	$500
214 km or 133 mi	Mekelle	$826
270 km or 168 mi	Kassala	$971
342 km or 212 mi	Gondar	$1016
407 km or 253 mi	El-Gadarif	$925
437 km or 272 mi	Al Hudaydah	$522
448 km or 279 mi	Bahir Dar	$864
473 km or 294 mi	Dessie	$1039
490 km or 304 mi	Zabid	$499
498 km or 310 mi	Abha	$911
509 km or 316 mi	Port Sudan	$964
513 km or 319 mi	Bareq	$903
548 km or 340 mi	Sa'dah	$498
567 km or 352 mi	Sanaa	$560
580 km or 361 mi	Sayyan	$498
583 km or 362 mi	Taiz	$522
585 km or 363 mi	Ibb	$512
589 km or 366 mi	Atbara	$1116
596 km or 370 mi	Dhamar	$500
600 km or 373 mi	Dikhil	$559
602 km or 374 mi	Obock	$560
606 km or 376 mi	Najran	$860
618 km or 384 mi	Djibouti City	$586
620 km or 385 mi	Ali Sabieh	$557
633 km or 393 mi	Ad-Damazin	$829
649 km or 403 mi	Bisha	$918
674 km or 419 mi	Khartoum North	$879
684 km or 425 mi	Mecca	$1162
685 km or 426 mi	Khartoum	$896
691 km or 429 mi	Jeddah	$1155
693 km or 430 mi	Omdurman	$910
701 km or 436 mi	Addis Ababa	$1289
715 km or 444 mi	Dire Dawa	$1175
715 km or 444 mi	Kosti	$857
717 km or 446 mi	Aden	$517
755 km or 469 mi	Harar	$1175
758 km or 471 mi	Borama	$502
788 km or 489 mi	Jijiga	$1169