Addis Ababa vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Addis Ababa	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1180	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2653	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$710	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$1338	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$63.8	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$207	$550
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	32	5
😀 Quality of life	39	34
🏙️ Population	5.7M	115K

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 179% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 4540th and 8915th ($1180 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Ethiopia and Bhutan, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 7025th and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Addis Ababa vs Thimphu

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

	Addis Ababa	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.27	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$1.18	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.75	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$637	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1854	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$859	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.4	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$130	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	16.49%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2510	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1875	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.91	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.57	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.17	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.45	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.38	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.67	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.7	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.46	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.1	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.94	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.22	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.49	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$84.2	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.72	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.13	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$86.3	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3446	$666

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 Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300