Accra is cheap in some ways and startlingly expensive in others. Food from a chop bar costs almost nothing. Imported anything costs more than it does in the country it came from. Rent is the thing that breaks budgets, and not because of the monthly figure.

The calculator

Accra cost of living calculator

Build a realistic monthly budget for Accra - rent, food, trotro fares, ECG credit, water, data and gas - and compare it to the minimum wage.

Rent is the whole problem

The monthly number is manageable. The advance is not.

Landlords in Accra ask for 12 months up front, and often two years. So the question that decides whether you can live in a place is not the monthly rent: it is whether you have 12 times it in savings on the day you sign.

This is why so many households share, why people stay far out in Kasoa and Amasaman, and why “can you afford Accra” is really a question about savings rather than income.

— Rent in Accra, every district ranked — Rent advance calculator — The rent advance, and the law on it

Food

The gap between eating Ghanaian and eating imported is enormous, and it is the single biggest lever on a food budget.

  • Street food and chop bars are the cheapest full meals in the city. A plate of waakye from a roadside seller is the price Accra residents actually use to judge inflation.
  • Markets are cheap for what is in season, and Ghana grows a great deal. Makola, Madina, Kaneshie and Dome are all good.
  • Supermarkets charge several times the market price for the same vegetables, and much more for anything imported.
  • Restaurants in Osu, East Legon and Airport City are priced like mid-range restaurants in a European city.
  • Cooking gas: a 14.5kg LPG refill lasts a single person about two months.

— What to eat in Accra — Accra’s markets — Where to shop cheaply

Electricity

Almost everyone is on a prepaid ECG meter, and PURC sets the tariff every quarter.

  • The first 30 kWh a month is the lifeline band, heavily subsidised, for households that use very little.
  • Above that, the energy charge is about ₵2.04 per kWh for the first 300 kWh, with a higher rate beyond and a fixed monthly service charge on top.

Air conditioning decides the bill. Without it, electricity is a minor line in most households. With it running every evening, it can become one of the largest.

— Electricity, prepaid meters and dumsor

Water

Mains water from Ghana Water Limited is inexpensive where it runs. Where it does not, you buy from tankers, and a ₵1,260 thousand-litre polytank is the one-off purchase that stops you needing them often.

— Water in Accra

Internet and data

Mobile data is how most of Accra gets online, and it is expensive relative to income, which shapes how Ghanaians use the internet: more messaging, less streaming.

  • Mobile bundles are sold by the network in daily, weekly and monthly sizes. The larger bundles are much better value per gigabyte.
  • Home fibre and fixed wireless are available in much of central Accra and worth it for a household that works from home. Coverage is street by street.

— SIM cards and internet — Working remotely from Accra

Transport

  • Trotros are by far the cheapest way to move, priced by distance.
  • Ride-hailing - Bolt, Uber, Yango - costs many times a trotro fare for the same trip, and much more at rush hour.
  • Okadas are cheaper than ride-hailing, faster in traffic, and considerably more dangerous.

Commuting by trotro costs a fraction of ride-hailing. Commuting by ride-hailing twice a day will quietly become one of your largest expenses.

— The trotro, explained — Getting around Accra — Ride-hailing and delivery apps

Health

NHIS membership costs little, and covers a great deal of ordinary care. The premium is set by the NHIA and confirmed at your district office. What actually costs money is private consultations and medicines not on the NHIS list.

— NHIS and health insurance — Private health insurance

Work it out for your own life

A page of averages cannot know your rent, your commute or your family. These can:

Why fewer prices than before

Earlier versions of this page printed a price for waakye, a trotro fare, a tanker of water and a typical rent. Those figures came from observation rather than from anybody who publishes them, and this site does not print a number it cannot re-check against a source. Where an official figure exists - the electricity tariff, the minimum wage, tax - it is here, with the date it was last verified. Where none does, the page tells you how to judge the price yourself rather than giving you one that may be a year old.

— How this site stays accurate

The costs nobody budgets for

These are the ones that catch people:

  • Funerals. Contributions, cloth, transport. They are frequent, they are socially obligatory, and they add up. — Funerals and social obligations
  • Family support. If you are earning and relatives are not, you will be asked. This is normal and expected, and it belongs in a realistic budget.
  • Church or mosque. Tithes and offerings are a significant share of income for many households.
  • Weddings, outdoorings, naming ceremonies.
  • Agent commission and moving costs, on top of the advance.
  • A polytank, a gate, a security light — small capital expenses that arrive at once when you move.

Income for context

  • Daily minimum wage: ₵21.77, roughly ₵566 a month
  • Median monthly earnings: around ₵1,200
  • Graduate entry salary in Accra: roughly ₵1,500 to ₵4,000 gross

Remember that gross is not what arrives. SSNIT takes 5.5% of basic, and PAYE takes a share of the rest.

Work out your take-home pay

And inflation

The cedi has moved a great deal against major currencies over the past decade, and Ghanaian inflation has at times been severe. Any figure on this page is a snapshot with a verification date attached — see how this site stays accurate.

The price of a plate of waakye is the index most Accra residents actually track.

— Sixty years of Ghanaian inflation, charted Where to eat cheaply in Accra