Top 10 African countries with the highest cost of living in 2025

The affordability of essential goods and services, such as housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and education, is directly reflected in the cost of living index.

The average person frequently finds it difficult to maintain a respectable quality of life in nations with high indexes.

With a high cost of living, families have limited disposable incomes, limiting their capacity to save, invest, or spend on non-essential items. This financial hardship can reduce the quality of life and worsen poverty.

In many African nations, the rich elite may be better able to adjust to growing expenditures, while low- and middle-income households face the brunt of the burden.

This rising economic inequality has the potential to spark social upheaval and further isolate disadvantaged groups.

Businesses typically face rising operational costs as their utility, rent, and payroll bills rise. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), which form the backbone of African economies, may struggle to thrive in such conditions.

Countries with high costs of living might encounter increased wage expectations, perhaps contributing to inflationary pressures.

Alternatively, failing to raise salaries may result in a talent drain as talented people seek better possibilities overseas or in adjacent countries with cheaper living expenses.

Furthermore, high living costs can deter foreign investors, especially if they perceive these expenses as eroding profitability.

However, for countries that manage to maintain a balance by ensuring high productivity or robust infrastructure, the impact may be less severe.

With that said, here are the African countries with the highest cost of living at the start of 2025, as per data from Numbeo.

Compared to data from this same period last year, Ethiopia now ranks number 1 on the list as opposed to Mozambique, with a cost of living index marginally higher cost of living index, compared to Mozambique’s which dropped significantly.

On average the cost of living index for most countries on the top 10 list declined. For example, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Cameroon, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, had respectively 44.7, 41.1, 39.6, 39.8, and 36.8 cost of living indexes in 2024, compared to 38.8, 35.6, 36.2, 33.8, and 34.7, respectively.

New additions to the top 10 list this year include, Botswana, Somalia, and Rwanda, in place of South Africa, Senegal, and Uganda, that were on the list last year.