NavoyNostos

Antananarivo vs Cotonou

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Antananarivo edges it, 34 to 33, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Antananarivo is stronger on air quality, internet; Cotonou on climate. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 5.9 of 34 points (scores 47/100)Healthcare: 3.5 of 34 points (scores 28/100)Internet: 5.5 of 34 points (scores 44/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 34 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 4.1 of 34 points (scores 33/100)Climate: 1.0 of 34 points (scores 8/100)Air quality: 7.9 of 34 points (scores 63/100)Quality of life: 1.3 of 34 points (scores 11/100)34
Antananarivo
out of 100

Hilltop capital of Madagascar, gateway to the lemurs

Full Antananarivo profile →Where to stay in Antananarivo →
Safety: 6.2 of 33 points (scores 50/100)Healthcare: 4.0 of 33 points (scores 32/100)Internet: 3.8 of 33 points (scores 30/100)Visa ease: 4.0 of 33 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 3.8 of 33 points (scores 30/100)Climate: 5.2 of 33 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 5.0 of 33 points (scores 40/100)Quality of life: 1.1 of 33 points (scores 9/100)33
Cotonou
out of 100

Benin's economic capital and motorbike city, between a lagoon, the ocean and Ganvié's stilt village

Full Cotonou profile →Where to stay in Cotonou →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety4750 ✓
Healthcare2832 ✓
Internet44 ✓30
Visa ease34 ✓32
Getting there & around33 ✓30
Climate842 ✓
Air quality63 ✓40
Quality of life11 ✓9

Cost

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Homicides per 100k6.15.8 ✓
Political stability (0–100)56.458.6 ✓
UHC service coverage (0–100)3338 ✓
Life expectancy62.9 yrs64 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Download9 Mbps ✓4.6 Mbps
Upload4.9 Mbps ✓1.9 Mbps

Visa

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival ✓e-visa required
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrival ✓e-visa required
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrival ✓e-visa required

Getting there and around

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Non-stop airport destinations17 ✓13
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricAntananarivoCotonou
Comfortable months per year15 ✓
Annual mean PM2.521.5 µg/m³ ✓31.9 µg/m³

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Antananarivo or Cotonou?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Antananarivo or Cotonou safer?
Cotonou scores higher on safety (50 vs 47), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Antananarivo or Cotonou?
Antananarivo: a measured median of 9 Mbps versus 4.6 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.