Addis Ababa vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Addis Ababa	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1180	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2653	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$710	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$1338	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$63.8	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$207	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	32	37
😀 Quality of life	39	49
🏙️ Population	5.7M	2.47M

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 60% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 4540th and 6726th ($1180 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Ethiopia and Zambia, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 7025th and 6269th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Addis Ababa vs Lusaka

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

	Addis Ababa	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.27	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$1.18	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.75	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$637	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1854	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$859	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.4	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$130	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	16.49%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2510	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1875	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.91	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.57	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.45	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.38	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.67	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.7	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.46	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.1	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.94	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.22	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.49	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$84.2	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.72	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.13	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$86.3	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3446	$9642

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	$886
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$838
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$654
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$752
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$756
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$718
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$897
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$764
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$542
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$542
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$518
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$662
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$571
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$836
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$660
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$540
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$487
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$943
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$520
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$486
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$488
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$1006
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$482
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$507
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$496
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$505
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$503
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$860
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$496
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$506
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$706
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$486
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$481
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$513
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$546
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$877
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$888
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$594
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$541
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$908

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$700
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$541
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$917
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1018
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$875
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$723
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$688
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$992
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$730
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$794
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$776
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$597
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$961
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$766
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$825
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$854
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$975
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$752
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$624
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$748
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$947
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$492
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$566
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$507
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$457
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$493
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$525
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$540
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1003
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$631
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$461
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$675