What is the cost of living in Cuba?

Answer 1

Published: Thu February 17, 2005
By: Publisher in Cuba Business > Business In Cuba
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By The Associated Press

Average salaries, per month:

Teacher: $9.60
Business administrator: $11.35
Engineer: $14.40
Doctor, general practitioner: $27
Doctor, specialist: $31
Taxi Driver: $6, plus tips

Cost of products:
Rice, per pound: 14 cents
Beans, per pound: 35 cents
Bread, per pound: 39 cents
Sugar, per pound: 47 cents
Pork, per pound: 96 cents
Can of soda: 42 cents
Bottle of rum: $2.30
Package of 20 cigarettes: 27 cents
Roll of toilet paper: 19 cents
Milk, per gallon: $4.55 (available at much lower prices for children under 7)
Cheese, per pound: $4-$5 (can be found for half this price on black market)
Cooking oil, per quart: $2.15
Box of cereal: $4-$10 (depending on brand)
Canned soup (Campbell's Cream of Mushroom): $2.50

Transportation:
Buses or fixed-route taxis for Cubans: 1 cent
Taxis for tourists: 96 cents per mile

Entertainment:
Movie theater: 4 cents
Sporting event: 4 cents
Concert: 4 cents to $25
A night at the Tropicana cabaret: $65-$85

Utilities, per month (based on consumption):
Water: 15-20 cents
Gas for stoves: 8-38 cents
Electricity: 38 cents to $11.50
Telephone: 38 cents to $11.50

Cuba has two economies, one in pesos (peso cubano or national peso) and one in convertible pesos (Peso cubano convertible or tourist dollars).

There are separate currencies, as well as shops, restaurants, buses, taxi's etc.

Some items like, milk, sugar, soap are available in peso stores but amounts that people can purchase are limited. Staple goods are rationed (or at least used to be not 100% sure that this is still the practice) on a monthly basis. Things from these stores are very cheap, but quality is generally poor and quantities are limited, not just by rationing either. It's common for stores to run out of things.

If you have access to hard foreign currency you can purchase things in the "dollar stores" that are part of the second economy. The cost of these things is about what you can expect to pay here, perhaps a little cheaper but for most Cubans these stores are priced well beyond what they could afford.

As an example, at a bar you as a tourist would pay a peso (convertable peso = aprox. $1.08 USD) for a beer while the Cuban would pay a peso ( national peso = aprox. $0.04 USD ). You would not be able to by the beer for a peso because you are not part of the peso economy. Unless you look Latin and speak great Spanish, no person is going to take from you or give to you Cuban Pesos and you will be forced to use the Tourist Dollars.

So.... the cost of living for a Cuban is very low, for a tourist it's high.