> In Sao Tome and Principe, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 14% of the median living standard, 18 times the share it takes in the United States; for 71% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 59% of people use the internet.

[World](https://themodelindex.org/world/) /

Africa

AI access, cost and use · Middle Africa · Africa · data read 1 Oct 2026

# Sao Tome and Principe

In Sao Tome and Principe, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 14% of the median living standard, 18 times the share it takes in the United States; for 71% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 59% of people use the internet.

14%

of the median living standard for a $20 plan

Africa median 38% · United States 0.79%

71%

of people for whom the plan is over a tenth of their living standard

about 172k people

3of 3

leading services officially offered

Claude · OpenAI · Gemini

59%

of people use the internet

world 74% · 240k people

## The figures · Sao Tome and Principe

People

240k

Median living standard

$1,663a year per person · consumption

A $20 plan takes

14%of that · 18× the US share

For whom it is over a tenth

71%of people

Survey

2017revalued at 2024 prices

GNI per person

$3,800plan is 6.3% of it

Claude use per person

not reported

Notable AI models built here

0

## Officially offered here · 3 of 3

[Run it yourself →](https://themodelindex.org/local/)

Claude · claude.ai app

Yes

OpenAI · API

Yes

Gemini · web app

Yes

From each lab's own published list: Anthropic's Claude.ai countries, OpenAI's API countries and Google's Gemini web app countries. Not listed means not officially served; open-weight models can be run anywhere.

## Against Africa and the world · regional figures are medians or population-weighted

| MEASURE | SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE | AFRICA | WORLD |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A $20 plan ÷ median living standard | 14% | 38% | 9.9% |
| People for whom it is over a tenth | 71% | 96% | 63% |
| Plan price ÷ GNI per person | 6.3% | 14% | 2.9% |
| People using the internet | 59% | 40% | 74% |
| Claude use per working-age person | not reported | 0.24× | 1.00× |
| Notable AI models built | 0 | 0 | 1,256 |

## Neighbours · Middle Africa · lightest burden first

| COUNTRY | PEOPLE | ONLINE | $20 PLAN ÷ MEDIAN LIVING STANDARD | OVER A TENTH | CLAUDE USE PER PERSON | OFFICIAL LISTS |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Gabon](https://themodelindex.org/world/gabon/) | 2.6 m | 69% | 10% | 51% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 240k | 59% | 14% | 71% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [Equatorial Guinea](https://themodelindex.org/world/equatorial-guinea/) | 1.9 m | 63% | 18% | 78% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [Cameroon](https://themodelindex.org/world/cameroon/) | 30 m | 46% | 31% | 93% | 0.38× | 3 of 3 |
| [Angola](https://themodelindex.org/world/angola/) | 39 m | 41% | 36% | 92% | 0.10× | 3 of 3 |
| [Chad](https://themodelindex.org/world/chad/) | 21 m | 13% | 39% | 97% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [Central African Republic](https://themodelindex.org/world/central-african-republic/) | 5.5 m | 14% | 65% | 99% | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [DR Congo](https://themodelindex.org/world/dr-congo/) | 113 m | 20% | no estimate | – | not reported | 3 of 3 |
| [Congo](https://themodelindex.org/world/congo/) | 6.5 m | 47% | no estimate | – | 0.24× | 3 of 3 |

[All countries →](https://themodelindex.org/world/)

## The foundations · Sao Tome and Principe against the world

[World Bank ↗](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator)

People using the internet

59%

world 74%

People with electricity

78%

world 92%

Mobile subscriptions per 100 people

62

world 112

Fixed broadband lines per 100 people

3

world 20.1

Enrolled in university-level education

13%

world 44%

Research spending, share of GDP

–

world 2.6%

Researchers per million people

–

world 1,652

Secure internet servers per million people

42

world 16,381

The latest World Bank figure for each measure. The tick marks the world figure.

A $20-a-month plan ($240 a year, US list price) against the median household living standard per person in each country. The median is from the latest national household survey (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform), revalued from 2021 purchasing-power dollars into US dollars at recent prices and official exchange rates, assuming real living standards have not changed since the survey. Some surveys measure income and others consumption, which includes food people grow and housing they own, so this is a living standard, not cash to spare. Countries with no survey since 2015 or no defensible exchange rate are left blank.

[World Bank household surveys ↗](https://pip.worldbank.org/) [Anthropic countries ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/supported-countries) [OpenAI countries ↗](https://platform.openai.com/docs/supported-countries) [Gemini countries ↗](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13575153) [Anthropic Economic Index ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report) [Epoch AI notable models ↗](https://epoch.ai/data/notable-ai-models)

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Source: https://themodelindex.org/world/sao-tome-and-principe/ · The Model Index · data as of 2026-10-01