Top 10 African Nations with the Highest Living Costs in 2025

The cost of living index shows how affordable basic needs like housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and education are. This index affects how well people can live.

In places with high cost of living indexes, people often struggle to live comfortably. This situation means less money for saving or buying things that are not essential, which can make poverty worse and lower quality of life.

In many African countries, wealthy people can cope better with rising costs, but those with low to middle incomes suffer more.

This growing gap between rich and poor can lead to unrest and further problems for those who are already struggling.

Businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones which are important for African economies, also face higher costs for things like utilities, rent, and paying employees. These challenges can make it hard for businesses to succeed.

Countries with high cost might feel the need to increase wages, which can cause prices to rise overall.

On the other hand, not increasing wages might push skilled workers to move to countries with better job opportunities and lower costs.

High living costs can also scare away foreign investors if they think these costs will cut into their profits.

However, countries that can improve how much work gets done or build better infrastructure might not feel these problems as much.

As of early 2025, data from Numbeo shows that Ethiopia now has the highest cost of living among African countries, taking over from Mozambique which saw a big drop in its index.

New to the top 10 list this year are Botswana, Somalia, and Rwanda, replacing South Africa, Senegal, and Uganda.

Here is the list of the top 10 African countries with the highest cost of living in 2025, along with their position in the world ranking

RankCountryCost of living indexGlobal rank1.Ethiopia43.253rd2.Botswana39.565th3.Mozambique38.966th4.Ivory Coast38.869th5.Somalia38.770th6.Cameroon36.276th7.Mauritius35.680th8.Zimbabwe34.783rd9.Rwanda34.685th10.Zambia33.891stThese numbers show how the cost of living changes in different places and how it affects the lives of the people there.