Living in Togo

Togo pays at the lower end of the world's scale, and the picture around that pay is steady. Living costs are modest and tax leaves your earnings largely intact, yet the margin at month's end stays narrow, covering an ordinary life with little to spare. The workplace runs on French, and breaking in without an established network asks for patience more than anything.

Togo sends more people abroad than it takes in: its diaspora of about 584.8K outpaces a foreign-born population of 260.1K, and it has grown 20% over the past decade. Both sides of the picture run through the West African neighborhood — Nigeria hosts the most Togolese abroad (169.7K), followed by Benin and Ghana, while arrivals come mainly from Benin, Niger, and Ghana.