Cost of living in Kenya

Please lower Caps Lock suirvale!

Thanks.

Good day,

I just joined this blog.  We are Canadian expats currently living in Johannesburg, South Africa since the last 8 years.  My husband has been approached for a country manager position at an NGO in Nairobi and we are doing some research before making a decision, if we would like to move there.

Would approximately 14,000 USD gross income per month be sufficient to live a comfortable life in Nairobi?

Hello all!

My wife are going to be moving to Nairobi from Houston, TX and I would like to know what the current costs are for the following:

Rent (2/3 bedroom inside / outside of the city centre)
Groceries per month
Cost for purchase of 4 wheel drive vehicle
Cost for mobile phone
Security ( is this necessary? I have read several places that state security is recommended for your home / apartment)


Any help would be very appreciated. I am working on a budget at the moment and am having a very hard time finding consistent numbers.

Thank you!

for starters  get a driver with his own car if you intend driving around the country,.,.,.
rent frist and have a look around,.

shop prices in nakmatt  shopping centre are much the same as europe,.
i was shocked that coffee was dear than europe,.but on balance i guess  its cheaper  on most things there,.
cappuchino is a ripp off in java house or classy coffee houses,.

breakfast is about 10 euros a rip off in some cafes,.
but you will learn after a few mistakes,.,.its ot big hassle cost of living thre,.security  is biggest problem and know  safe areas,.
do not get drunk,..........to often,,.

Hi

I am new in Nai and looking for buying fish

Can anybody help on if there is a fresh fish market in Nairobi/ or any place which sells preferably in Parkland or westland area/

Thx
Den

there is wholsale market  between barclays bank market street branch and moi avenue i thinkits called city market, its  beside the major tourist market for souveniers,.its near javanjee gardesn toward city toward 680 hotel..
i soory i cannot give more exact  details,.,.cheers mike
what the weather there liek now , i sm suppose to go in a week or two,.,.

@suirvale: rain, rain, and more rain
@dennise: you can try the butcher at ABC Plaza on Waiyaki Way at the corner of James Gichuru (heading away from Nairobi)

are all those prices updated? in nairobi prices rly fluctuate ;/ im toking from experience..

Hello!
I've just joined the blog!
My husband has been offered a job as CFO in a strong Portuguese company that is expanding to Quenia. Salary is often an issue...we had a previous idea of the package to ask, but...reading all these posts on the subject...well...
We would move to Nairobi with our 2 daughters (14 and 10) and our one year-old-son.
I am planning on taking a one year non-payed lease.This will allow me not to cut the bonds with my employer, and take care of my son until he's old enough for first years school.
Thank you all for all these precious informations.
I still have some doubts:
- The classic question: what would be the best package to ask(minimum to reasonable);
- Do you have any idea of the prices with school and do you recomend any school in particular;
- I have a large experience as secretary in one of the major companies in Portugal - do you think I could find a job?
- I read about hiring a driver...is that necessary in Nairobi, or only in the first days, until we know the town?

Most of all, do you think we're crazy in moving there with our children? I don't want to move to a place were we can't go out on the streets, and living in fear is something that would kill me...
Thank you all in advance!

well said queen, here in nai 400$ can be enough per person, for leisure, foor, and enjoying, excluding the housing cost. for a whole family of 4 700$ can be enough.. if u keep a budget you will save more and spend less.. all the basic needs will be covered.

look  on youtube and you willl see lots of videos on kenya,  citizen tv  on youtube is good,.,.why do you not go for holiday first,,, they kenyas  will try and over price for a foreigner,.am sure you know that,.mike

Hello,

Just to remind you that this topic is on : Cost of living in Kenya. Thank you

Thank you all for Your kind help.

hi there!
Is $1600 per month salary good enough for a family of 3 if school fees,insurance and housing is paid for?Please reply

yess it will be enough deweepari,for a medium life style.

Wanainchi Harabi... Do not complain every where in the world is the same... The higher you get paid the more luxury you are used too and in this days of economic crisis you will need to loosen your salary or lose the job... with both of this you need to give up your high life and start reducing your lovely restaurants, movies etc and take a deep breath in the woods with no money and enjoy the nature while it lasts... Kenya has many spots where all you need is a matatu to drop you and take a hike in the woods and return to the main road and hike back home... done it a million times when i was living in kenya... the people are great and it you get some odd bandits do not get worried you have no one to live for and just pretend that way and they will let you go... ENJOY while you have a soul

Hi...i am from Pakistan and my company has offered me a position in Kenya. I am married and have a 2 month old son.

Can someone please tell me the average monthly cost of living in Nairobi. Major expense heads would be:

1. town house at a good location
2. food (two adults)
3. infant food (1 baby)
4. utilities
5. car leasing
6. petrol
7. small but regular expenses like Laundary, Internet
8. Entertainment (cinemas, clubs, etc)

Also please let me know if you think my wife would be able to get a job over there (she has a bachelors degree in economics. She would be interested in teaching at a school or giving private tutions to kids at home

Also please tell me if there are good day care centres for kids over there? if both parents are working, can the kid be sent to a day care?

Also please tell me if domestic help (for cleaning the house) is available. If yes, whats the average cost per month?

I know i have asked a lot of questions but its really important for me to know all this so i can decide on this major move. Would really appreciate your response

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
OAM

yep   just back from kenya,.them bad mannered badly dressed taxis at nrbi airport want 2000ksh to town  so i got the hooppy   bus for 50ksh,.
i never know when to give tip  in restraunts, i learn if i stay away from  java and such restraunts  life is much cheaper,.
i am scared of the security situation it seems to be gettign worse, my friend got robbed  outside his hotel  but security guard chased them away,.
roadworks midway  to mombasa is hell ,  it scared hell out of me,.
never know if  drivers there are chewign mirrah or drunk,.
they are not very pleasant to tourist anymore in kneya  or is it because i am white,.
stil  i wll go back somtime,.,.mike

Hello,

Just to remind that this discussion is on Cost of living in Kenya. Threads can be created on Kenya forum if you want to talk on other subjects. Thank you

Cost of living will definitely surge! With KPLC recently annoucing a 16% increace in electricity bills (despite the frequent black outs) production costs will shoot up, and you bet producers will cascade these prices down to consumers....get ready to tighten your belts !

Hi|

I would like to get some oportunity of work at kenya. Would like to know about this. i'm a traductor. I do speak spanish, english, french and some arabic. I have a great experience on high-executive assistant manager.

I need to change my life. I'm 47. I'll appreciate your opinion.

Thank you

Adéle

Just neeed new friends, new faces, new challenges

@ Adela. Probably good to also check with UNON for trudactor jobs, though in my opinion most opportunities here for this type of work would be as a consultant and not full time job....however you will probably have more opportunities in francophone countries such as Rwanda which are now turning to English.

Many thanks for the answers

I've lived in Kenya on and off since the colonial days and of course like the rest of the world it's changed tremendously, especially the cost of living. Nairobi has become expensive, I find towns  like Nyeri, Nanyuki, Kisumu etc cheaper especially in terms of rental accommodation.

It would be interesting to get a response from expats living outside of Nairobi and Mombasa.

wow! thats a lot of detailed information for all of us.

Hi Tuldha,

Not sure if you are still active on this forum, Still in hope and as per my understanding looking for a small update from your side.

I am being offered a job in Nairobi for a travel organization & salary would be in approximation of KSH 1,34,000 per month, with bachelor accommodation & fooding. I am not sure as by going on several forums I am now finding that this salary might not be sufficient. Although as per me (after going through your posts) my standard expenditure should be in the range of KSH 20,000 per month as nothing much is left to spend on after fooding & lodging being offered my main expenditure would be personal expenses only.

In case you can give me a feedback on the same I would be able to get a better picture.

Awaiting your further response on the same.

Regards,
GK

maybe KES 20,000

Further to my last post, the biggest expense for any expat is accommodation, typically furnished one bedroom apartment in Nairobi you'd be lucky to get a secure one in reasonable condition for less than 60,000/- in comparison to 25-30,000/- Nakuru with security but further afield like Nyauhuru  two bedrooms for 3,500 to 5,000/- unfurnished (unlikely to get furnished, might be corrected) per month without security.

Nairobi is not cheap and nearly match world in accommodation and certainly world class  in hotel prices but I guess it's mainly catering for overseas visitors.

I am currently based in the Ukraine on business, accommodation cost here is very low, a few miles from the capital Kiev you can get a one bedroom for as little as $60 per month, standard though are rock bottom, build quality is atrocious.

Hi all,

I have been offered a postion in Nairobi.

Will $5775 to 6000 per month be enough for 2 adults and 2 kids. That is roughly 500,000 KSH per month.

Company will not provide anything I.e school , house rent etc. All official expenses will be reimbursed by the company.


Pls advice.

[Moderated: Please post in Housing section]

Hi Gaurav,

Sorry, I have not been active here and noticed your mail just today only.

In case you are still looking for a response, the salary offered, per-se, does not look very attaractive. However, it will depend on what you are earning now.

You should assess for yourself whether you will make substantial savings as compared to what you save now. Pl. also note that Kenyan currency is pretty volatile and it sometimes depreciates substantially against USD. Last year it went down from 80 Shillings to a Dollar to 107 Shillings to a Dollar. It recovered after a few months to 83 Shillings but has again depreciated now to about 88 Shillings. If you take into account the INR is apprecating currently, anticipated savings maybe seriously dented.

Education, Medical and accomodation can be very expensive here. Pl. take note that medical is not just costlier as compared to India it is SEVERAL TIMES costlier. Hence, pl. make sure that you negotiate a full medical cover (both in-patient and out-patient) with your employer.

Pl. also note that you would need to buy a car and maintain it (another expensive thing) to get by in Nairobi. There is no suitable public transport to speak of.

My last update regarding the cost of living was more than a year back. I notice many more queries on the forum and note that the exhaustive list was found useful by many people. I am, therefore, updating the list & prices to indicate current prices for some of the items (Items for which prices are not updated are in red colour). Please note that these are current indicative prices and you should make your own further enquiries, as I am not responsible for inadvertent error, if any. I hope those planning to come to Nairobi will find this information useful –

The single most important update on my previous list is the Currency Exchange Rate, which has been quite volatile lately. The local currency during the last one year depreciated to 107 Shillings to a Dollar, then recovered to about 83 Shillings and is now back to about 88 Shillings and still depreciating ever so slowly. Currently 1 USD = 88 KES, 1 INR = 1.62 KES). All prices mentioned below are in Kenyan Shillings (KES).

1. Bottled Water – One should buy 20 liter container/s (KES 1500 first time buy) and get them refilled (Nakumatt Westgate). This way the cost will be considerably less than buying bottles off the shelf. (At Nakumatt they fill up 5 liter bottles also) -

5 litres bottle refill – 100
20 liters bottle refill – 330

(I still notice a good number of people buying fresh plastic bottles instead of refiilling. They are unnecessarily paying substantially more for the same water.)

2. English Daily News Papers – 50

3. Cable/Satellite TV – Zuku - provides a large no. of channels. The most expensive package consisting of all their channels (which includes some English, French and Indian Channels too) with unlimited broadband internet (8mbps) with a wireless modem and a landline telephone connection now costs only KES 4000 per month (down from KES 6000 last year). You can opt for cheaper packages too. If you try hard enough, they may waive installation charges. There are others like DSTV etc. Which are considerably expensive in comparison. Those who cannot do without watching football, will have to take DSTV connection as they have monopoly in sports events.

4. Telecommunication – Most popular operators are Safaricom, Orange and Airtel. All of them offer 3G now. They provide 3G dongles also with attractive bundles. They have recently introduced even 21mbps dongles though in limited areas only. Data bundle prices are affordable. You may visit their sites for current tariffs.

Call charges to US, Canada, India and China are very cheap at just KES 3 to KES 4  per minute. Compare prices before you buy a connection. It would also be good to check with your colleagues/neighbours the quality of reception in your office/home area as quality of reception differs from area to area, vendor to vendor. Mobile and fixed-line handsets are considerably costlier here.

5. Groceries/Vegetable/fruits etc. (per Kg. or per liter unless mentioned otherwise)

Bread (Large 1.5 kg) – 220
Bread (Medium 800 gm) – 105
Bread (Small 600 gm) – 80
Eggs (6) - 90
Cheese Slices (10) - 200 g - 350
Sugar - 190
Fresh Milk - 1 Liter – 82 
Mixed Fruit Jam - 269
Yoghurt - 500 g – 270
Margarine - 200

Lamb Loin - 840
Chicken Drumsticks – 850
Fish Tilapia (Fillet) - 845

Gram Flour – 180
Maize Flour – 100
Rice Flour – 120
Wheat Flour (Atta) - 75

Pasta - 500 g - 120
Santa Lucia Spaghetti 700 g - 150
Pasta Piccoli - 500 g - 120
Egg Noodles - 225
Tomato Paste - 480 g - 175
Haldiram Bikaneri Papad - 200 g - 130
Daawat Basmati Rice - 5 Kg - 950
Whole Gram (Chana) - 113
Rosecoco Red - 120
Polished Green Gram - 144
Imported Pop Corn - 178
Tuver (Arhar) Dal (not oiled) – 160
Yellow Gram broken (Chana Dal) - 180
Mung Dal Washed - 150
Mattar Dal - 120
Chick Peas (Imported) – 210
Cumminseeds (Zeera) 250 gms – 220

Green Apples - 289
Papaya – 139
Banana (per Kg) – 109
Mangoes - 59
Pears Imported – 399
Water Melon – 89
Sweet Melon/Cantaloupe/Kharbuja – 159
Plums Imported – 749
Peaches - 849

Cabbage - 25
Capsicum - 129
Carrots - 69
Cauliflower - 149
English Cucumber - 189
Kisumu Cucumber - 89
Dudhi/Ghiya (Bottle Gourd) - 109
Ginger - 179
Lettuce 1 Packet - 45
Onion White - 119
Fresh Peas - 259
Tomatos - 119
Turia - 119
Fresh Tuver - 379
White Potatos - 65
Salad Packet - 99
Beans - 500 g – 89
Karela (Bitter Gourd) – 89
Lemon (Imported) – 399
Egg Plant (Baingan) – 69
Okra/Bhindi/Ladies Finger – 119
Spinach (per bundle) – 22

Apple Juice (2L bottle) – 395
Mango Juice (2L bottle) – 395
Minute Maid Fruit Juice - 169

Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs - 455 g - 420
Raw Cashewnuts - 400 g - 500
Orbit Chewing Gum 10 Pallets – 70

Colgate Total Tooth Paste 75 gm – 180
Dabur Tooth Paste (150 gm) - 160
Vaseline Men Body Lotion - 370

Cleenex Toilet Paper 10 – 377
Serviettes (Paper Tissues) 100 pieces – 82
Dish Washing Liquid (750 ml) - 225
Disinfectant - 1.5 Kg – 180
DAC Disinfectant (3L) - 530
Wooden Carpet Brush Staff - 110
Plastic Cleaning Brush - 275
Toilet Brush with Holder - 170
Eveready Gold Battery (2) – 150
Fay Aluminium Foil (30cm x 5M) - 80

(Pl. Note that prices for items in red colour have not yet been updated)

Above prices are approximate and for purchases made at up-market super-markets like Nakumatt and Uchumi, where most of the expats like to shop. Prices could be lower at smaller shops. For example at the Corner Shop in Diamond Plaza.
Cooking Gas prices keep on fluctuating throughout the year. It is currently selling at KES 2600 for a 13Kg. gas bottle (Shell).

Enjoy your stay in Nairobi and let us hope and pray for peaceful elections.

May i get to know the water heating options in Nairobi and relevant cost precisely based on latest rates? Please indicate brief details.

Prior Thanks!!

Not sure if this is still relevant. I have worked in two other African countries (In West Africa and North Africa) and I also have lived in Europe. Cost of Living is relative as everything depends on the basket of goods you are referring to. For example I do not take the tube in London...I take a taxi which is ofcourse more expensive. Many companies like Mercer undertake a cost of living analysis/survey for their clients which is a good base to start when negotiating with your employer. You however need to distinguish between an expatriate and a foreigner. The two are not the same. Companies will not be willing to increase your salary just because you are a foreigner because it does not make economic sense to the bottom line.

Website for cost of living  numbeo.com

Is 5,00,000  KSH per month a good salary in Nairboi for a digital job. If one has to live lavishly how much would he save. Also how is the safety scenario in Nairobi