Is Dar es Salaam an expensive city?
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Is Dar es Salaam an expensive city?
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Dar-Es-Salaam Expat Forum
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Prices of basic products in Dar es Salaam are lower than in United States. You have to pay 1.92 times less for shopping in Dar es Salaam than in United States. The average accommodation cost in Dar es Salaam range from: 47,000 TZS in hostel to 102,000 TZS in 3 star hotel. Price per night in a luxury hotel in Dar es Salaam is about 333,000 TZS.
Using public transport in Dar es Salaam comes at a cost of: 400 TZS for a one-way ticket. The price for renting a car in Dar es Salaam (e.g. Volkswagen Golf or Toyota Corolla) to 22,320,000 TZS. If you prefer taxi, remember that the price of a taxi in Dar es Salaam depends on several factors. Taxi starting price is about: 5,000 TZS. For 1 km ride in Dar es Salaam you have to pay about: 3,000 TZS.
Well it all depends with people really! And place to place …there are place where its really costly living at places like upanga, oysterbay, masaki, posta etc where its in the city so things are pricey …however there are fixed costs like the cost per unit of electricity which is around 370/unit approx 0.16$ and cost per unit of water which was 1663tshs/1000liter roughly 0.75$ …other costs
Housing(rent) 2bedrooms, a kitchen and livingroom = *250,000tshs/pm
Hint: this is not an appartment! Appartments cost more like 600$/pm these prices are of different hotels located at upanga!
Food = lets say 3 meals per day plus drinks *30,000–*45,000tshs/day thats already made food. And abit luxurious spending! E.g marry brown, best bite, KFC, etc.
Cloathes lets say you choose to spend like 500$/month on clothes, because there are markets, malls and other places where they sell on higher prices e.g mlimani city mall, woolworth, city mall,
Lets put aside some amount for daily transportation expenses like taking a cab, uber BRT and/even daladala 150$/pm
…so i guess thats the real cost of living in here! Thats if you choose to live near town
If you live far from town. There are relatively much reduction on costs of living!
Something like rent can be bumped to 45,000-*150,000tsh depending on how big and quality the house is.
Food also can be cheaper …aside from spending all that you might spend close to *25,000tsh/day
Cloathes can be up to 100$/month depending on where you are shopping at!
Also Transportation can be reduced to even 100$/pm
assumptions:
The cost of living for expatriates in Dar es Salaam as at October 2022 is average in comparison to other places in the world, with an overall Cost of Living Index (COLI), for all 13 basket groups, of 60.02 (New York =100). We have collected prices for the same items, world wide, based on Expat spending norms, in or closest to the location, and converted them to $USD so that we can compare the cost of 13 different baskets in 780 global locations. For each basket, compared to New York, the equivalent cost in Dar es Salaam is as follows:
1) Alcohol and/or Tobacco: Cost is low for items such as beer, spirits, wine and tobacco related products such as cigarettes. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$640. Average price in a store for a midrange bottle of wine is USD$8.21, domestic/local beer (500ml) USD$1.55, imported/international beer (330ml) USD$2.13 and a pack of 20 cigarettes is USD$2.02.
2) Clothing: Cost is very low for items such as business, casual and children’s clothing and footwear. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$530. Average price for an international brand of mens jeans is USD$24, a quality international brand of running shoes USD$62, mens leather shoes suitable for office wear USD$52 while a medium size international summer dress from a global chain store is USD$29.
3) Communication: Cost is very high for various communication costs such as home telephone rental, internet subscription, mobile service provider tariff and data costs. A basket costing USD$200 in New York costs USD$288. Average price for a monthly standard plan internet subscription is USD$76, while the benchmark mobile tariff is USD$0.16 per minute.
4) Education: Cost is low for items such as creche / pre-school fees, primary school fees, high school fees and tertiary study fees. A basket costing USD$30,000 in New York costs USD$16200. Average annual private international school fee (excluding extras) USD$10,507 for Primary School, and USD$11,693 for High School.
5) Furniture & Appliances: Cost is very high for items such as dining table and chairs, home entertainment, kitchen appliances, and sofas. A basket costing USD$2,500 in New York costs USD$2800. Average price for a 6kg front loader Washing Machine is USD$809, and USD$694 for a 46+” LED UHD TV.
6) Groceries: Cost is average for items such as consumables, cleaning products, dairy, fresh fruit & vegetables, general food products, snacks, soft drinks. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$750. Average grocery prices in a major international retail store for 1 kg apples is USD$3.86, 1 kg oranges USD$2.05, 1 head lettuce USD$0.91, 1 kg potatos USD$0.99, 1 kg boneless, skinless, chicken breast USD$5.53, 1 kg cheddar cheese USD$12.04, 1 dozen large eggs USD$2.51, 500g loaf white bread USD$0.77, 1 L full cream milk USD$1.66, and 1.5 L water USD$0.57.
7) Healthcare: Cost is low for general heath care, doctor visits, hospital stays, non-prescription medicine, and medical insurance. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$570. Average healthcare cost for a private practice Doctor visit for an uninsured patient is USD$46, and a private hospital stay per day including nursing care, medications, diagnostic tests, food, and related costs is USD$1,411.
8) Household Accommodation: Cost is average for items such as apartment rent, house rent, property purchase, mortgage rate, and utilities. A basket costing USD$5,000 in New York costs USD$1700. Average expatriate house / apartment rent for a secure upmarket unfurnished apartment (3 bedrooms) is USD$2,154 in a central location, and USD$1,498 in a suburban location, per month, excluding utilities.
9) Miscellaneous: Cost is low for items such as dry cleaning, linen, magazines, newspapers, office supplies, and postage stamps. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$270. Average price for dry cleaning (1 mens 2 pc suit) is USD$5.26, while an international newspaper is USD$1.62.
10) Personal Care: Cost is low for items such as cosmetics, hair care, and toiletries. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$245. Average cost for a mens haircut and blow dry is USD$20, while a womens hair colour, cut and blow dry – medium length is USD$98.
11) Recreation & Culture: Cost is average for items such as books, cinema, sport and theatre tickets. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$360. Average price for a latest release international cinema ticket (average of on and off peak where applicable) for one adult is USD$6.02, and an international fitness, recreation or sports club membership cost for one adult is USD$85 per month.
12) Restaurants Meals Out and Hotels: Cost is very low for items such as hotel daily room rates, meals and beverages in a restaurant, and take away food and beverages. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$330. Average cappuccino price (regular, medium) is USD$2.27, coke/pepsi (330ml) USD$0.58, burger meal (international franchise or similar) USD$6.58, and a mid-range international restaurant meal for 2 USD$27.36.
13) Transport: Cost is average for items such as fuel (petrol/gasoline), car hire, public transport, vehicle purchase and maintenance. A basket costing USD$1,000 in New York costs USD$710. Average average price over the last year for highest available octane petrol / gasoline (1L) is USD$0.95, while the benchmark car sedan purchase price including taxes/duties for a compact / small / economy vehicle (1.4 L) is USD$17,890.
How does the cost of living in Dar es Salaam compare?
Dar es Salaam is 5.4% more expensive than Houston TX for groceries, 9.2% more expensive for household costs than Kuala Lumpur, and 24.2% more expensive for transport costs than Dubai.
What is the quality of life / hardship in Dar es Salaam?
Dar es Salaam is ranked as a high degree of hardship location.The hardship premium for Dar es Salaam for an expat from Perth, is for example 20%, i.e. host location (Dar es Salaam) premium of 30% minus home (Perth) location premium of 10%.