Cost of Living inAntananarivo, Madagascar
Image credit: Pufacz
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Madagascar: $1,657/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 76% lower 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
4.2 / 10
#120 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 Antananarivo. We publish this section only when we can tie it to local job-board, agency, or country fallback evidence.
Getting Around
The concrete mobility picture for Antananarivo: airport access, urban transit, and rideshare practicality.
Airport
Antananarivo international airport access
The refreshed local city data-type matrix lists Antananarivo as a missing Madagascar mobility/walkability row; add conservative first-city coverage through antananarivo international airport access instead of leaving the country at zero direct family mobility coverage.
Urban transit
Road-led mobility with central errand access
Daily movement remains road-led, but buses, minibuses, taxis, and central errands provide a conservative non-car baseline until richer city-specific sources land.
Rideshare
Taxi-first mobility
Taxis or arranged rides are the dependable fallback for airport transfers and neighborhoods beyond fixed-route service.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Madagascar.
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
LimitedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network help, but the private footprint is not very visible yet and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
33/100
2023
Physicians
0.17/1k
2022
Hospital beds
0.32/1k
2014
Out of pocket
27%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
63.8 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
445/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
23.1/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedThere is visible specialty depth help, but the private footprint is still thin and price transparency is still sparse.
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 Madagascar yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-07-01
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 | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
2015 annual wages in Antananarivo, Madagascar · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (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 Antananarivo compared with the US?
Your money goes about 3.3x further in Antananarivo than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Madagascar here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Antananarivo cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Antananarivo is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 76% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Antananarivo. We are using the country-level cost index for Madagascar here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Antananarivo compare with New York City?
Rent in Antananarivo is about 93% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Madagascar here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Antananarivo?
Groceries in Antananarivo are about 75% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 84% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Madagascar here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Antananarivo
Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar, a central-highland city of about 1.35 million sitting at roughly 1,280 meters in the middle of the country's main island. As the dominant political, financial, and commercial center of a low-income island economy, it concentrates government, French and South African corporate offices, textile-export manufacturing (anchored by AGOA-eligible apparel plants), and a substantial NGO presence. Relocators should weigh that infrastructure (roads, power, water, telecoms) lags regional peers significantly, the climate is subtropical highland with mild temperatures year-round and a sharp November-April rainy season, and French dominates business alongside Malagasy in daily life. The international airport handles connections to Europe (Paris) and African hubs; the formal expat community is concentrated in NGOs, diplomacy, and a small private-sector cluster.
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