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Cotonou vs Douala

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Cotonou edges it, 33 to 29, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Cotonou is stronger on air quality, safety, climate; Douala on quality of life. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

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 →
Safety: 3.9 of 28 points (scores 31/100)Healthcare: 4.4 of 28 points (scores 35/100)Internet: 3.2 of 28 points (scores 25/100)Visa ease: 4.0 of 28 points (scores 32/100)Getting there & around: 5.0 of 28 points (scores 40/100)Climate: 3.1 of 28 points (scores 25/100)Air quality: 2.5 of 28 points (scores 20/100)Quality of life: 2.4 of 28 points (scores 19/100)29
Douala
out of 100

Cameroon's humid port city and commercial capital, loud, lively and hard to walk

Full Douala profile →Where to stay in Douala →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricCotonouDouala
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety50 ✓31
Healthcare3235 ✓
Internet30 ✓25
Visa ease3232
Getting there & around3040 ✓
Climate42 ✓25
Air quality40 ✓20
Quality of life919 ✓

Cost

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

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricCotonouDouala
Homicides per 100k5.8 ✓6.76
Political stability (0–100)58.6 ✓36
UHC service coverage (0–100)3848 ✓
Life expectancy64 yrs ✓61.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricCotonouDouala
Download4.6 Mbps ✓3.7 Mbps
Upload1.9 Mbps ✓1.2 Mbps

Visa

MetricCotonouDouala
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporte-visa requirede-visa required
Entry, EU passporte-visa requirede-visa required
Entry, UK passporte-visa requirede-visa required

Getting there and around

MetricCotonouDouala
Non-stop airport destinations1321 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)12 ✓

Climate and air

MetricCotonouDouala
Comfortable months per year5 ✓3
Annual mean PM2.531.9 µg/m³ ✓41.1 µg/m³

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

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Cotonou or Douala?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Cotonou or Douala safer?
Cotonou scores higher on safety (50 vs 31), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Cotonou or Douala?
Cotonou: a measured median of 4.6 Mbps versus 3.7 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; Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); 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.