Cost of Living inOuagadougou, Burkina Faso
Image credit: C. Hugues https://www.flickr.com/photos/chugues/
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Burkina Faso: $2,548/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 37% higher than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
Happiness
4.5 / 10
#108 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
International and private school tuition + curriculum mix for relocating families.
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Ouagadougou. We publish this section only when we can tie it to local job-board, agency, or country fallback evidence.
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Ouagadougou is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Burkina Faso.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public coverage looks thinner and public funding looks lighter.
Private care
MixedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
47/100
2023
Physicians
0.15/1k
2022
Hospital beds
0.20/1k
2020
Out of pocket
44%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
61.3 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
242/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
23.8/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedThere is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce and few facilities expose web pages we can verify weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Burkina Faso yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Source: GDP-derived estimate (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival.
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Ouagadougou compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.7x further in Ouagadougou than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Burkina Faso here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Ouagadougou cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Ouagadougou is more expensive overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 37% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City) for Ouagadougou. We are using the country-level cost index for Burkina Faso here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Ouagadougou compare with New York City?
Rent in Ouagadougou is about 35% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Burkina Faso here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Ouagadougou?
Groceries in Ouagadougou are about 20% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 46% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Burkina Faso here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso, a landlocked Sahelian country in West Africa, and concentrates most of the country's government, services, and formal employment. French is the working language and the lingua franca alongside Moore, which makes it accessible to Francophone relocators in a way that nearby Anglophone capitals are not. Costs are low by regional standards, particularly for housing and food. The dominant practical constraints, however, are security and climate: since 2022 a worsening jihadist insurgency in the north and east has pushed most Western embassies to issue strong travel advisories, and Sahelian heat regularly exceeds 40 degrees during the hot season before the brief rains arrive.
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