Cost of Living in South Africa. 2018 prices in South Africa.

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Food
	Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district	R 107
	Combo meal in fast food restaurant (Big Mac Meal or similar)	R 57
	500 gr (1 lb.) of boneless chicken breast	R 41
	1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk	R 14
	12 eggs, large	R 32
	1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes	R 18
	500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese	R 63
	1 kg (2 lb.) of apples	R 21
	1 kg (2 lb.) of potatoes	R 20
	0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket	R 17
	1 bottle of red table wine, good quality	R 93
	2 liters of Coca-Cola	R 16
	Bread for 2 people for 1 day	R 12
Housing
	Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 Sqft) furnished accommodation in EXPENSIVE area	R 15,286
	Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 Sqft) furnished accommodation in NORMAL area	R 10,067
	Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 2 people in 85m2 flat	R 1,377
	Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 Sqft) furnished studio in EXPENSIVE area	R 10,937
	Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 Sqft) furnished studio in NORMAL area	R 6,620
	Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 Sqft) studio	R 953
	Internet 8 Mbps (1 month)	R 659
	40” flat screen TV	R 5,970
	Microwave 800/900 Watt (Bosch, Panasonic, LG, Sharp, or equivalent brands)	R 1,702
	Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.)	R 86
	Hourly rate for cleaning help	R 61
Clothes
	1 pair of jeans (Levis 501 or similar)	R 798
	1 summer dress in a High Street Store (Zara, H&M or similar retailers)	R 660
	1 pair of sport shoes (Nike, Adidas, or equivalent brands)	R 1,310
	1 pair of men’s leather business shoes	R 1,325
Transportation
	Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI 150 CV (or equivalent), with no extras, new	R 282,093
	1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas	R 14
	Monthly ticket public transport	R 608
Personal Care
	Cold medicine for 6 days (Tylenol, Frenadol, Coldrex, or equivalent brands)	R 61
	1 box of antibiotics (12 doses)	R 217
	Short visit to private Doctor (15 minutes)	R 419
	1 box of 32 tampons (Tampax, OB, ...)	R 49
	Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.)	R 30
	Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.)	R 52
	4 rolls of toilet paper	R 27
	Tube of toothpaste	R 17
	Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city	R 143
Entertainment
	Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub	R 341
	2 tickets to the movies	R 159
	2 tickets to the theater (best available seats)	R 846
	Dinner for two at an Italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert	R 575
	1 cocktail drink in downtown club	R 62
	Cappuccino in expat area of the city	R 27
	1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.)	R 28
	iPad Wi-Fi 128GB	R 9,360
	1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans)	R 2.51
	1 month of gym membership in business district	R 574
	1 package of Marlboro cigarettes	R 40

Map of Cost of Living in South Africa

This map shows only the top cities in South Africa. We also have on this page a list of all the cities available in Expatistan.

The color of each marker corresponds with the Cost of Living in the city. Red markers show more expensive cities, green ones show cheaper cities.
Moving the mouse on top of a city will show its name and the Cost of Living Index of that city.

What is the Cost of Living Index? To calculate each city's Price Index value, we start by assigning a value of 100 to a central reference city (that happens to be Prague). Once the reference point has been established, the Price Index value of every other city in the database is calculated by comparing their cost of living to the cost of living in Prague.
Therefore, if a city has a Price Index of 134, that means that living there is 34% more expensive than living in Prague.

Cost of Living Ranking in South Africa

(top cities by data quality)

Ranking	City	Price Index *
1st	Johannesburg	123
2nd	Pretoria	122
3rd	Carletonville	118
4th	Cape Town	107
5th	Orkney	105
6th	Polokwane	102
7th	Durban	96
8th	Port Elizabeth	92
9th	Bloemfontein	84
10th	Noorder-Paarl	81

Price Index:

To calculate each city's Price Index value, we start by assigning a value of 100 to a central reference city (that happens to be Prague). Once the reference point has been established, the Price Index value of every other city in the database is calculated by comparing their cost of living to the cost of living in Prague.
Therefore, if a city has a Price Index of 134, that means that living there is 34% more expensive than living in Prague.

Are you moving to South Africa? Do you know how much money you will need there to maintain your current standard of living?

Find out what is the real equivalent in South Africa of your current salary and improve your chances of a happy relocation.

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List of all cities available in South Africa

Benoni	Bethal	Bhisho
Bloemfontein	Boksburg	Botshabelo
Brits	Cape Town	Carletonville
Durban	George	Johannesburg
Kimberley	Kroonstad	Nelspruit
Newcastle	Noorder-Paarl	Orkney
Phalaborwa	Pietermaritzburg	Polokwane
Port Elizabeth	Potchefstroom	Potgietersrus
Pretoria	Queenstown	Richards Bay
Rustenburg	Soweto	Tembisa
Vereeniging	Vryheid	Welkom
Witbank	Worcester	eMbalenhle

Recent Comparisons

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Recent Prices Added

Cappuccino in expat area of the city in Cape Town costs R 28 (about 10 hours ago)
Basic dinner out in neighborhood pub, dinner for two in Cape Town costs R 340 (about 10 hours ago)
Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city in Cape Town costs R 120 (about 10 hours ago)
12 rolls of toilet paper in Cape Town costs R 26 (about 10 hours ago)
Short visit to private doctor in Cape Town costs R 415 (about 10 hours ago)
Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new in Cape Town costs R 370,000 (about 10 hours ago)
Men’s leather business shoes in Cape Town costs R 1,000 (about 10 hours ago)
Jeans (levis 501 or similar) in Cape Town costs R 1,200 (about 10 hours ago)
40′ flat screen tv in Cape Town costs R 7,000 (about 10 hours ago)
2 liters of coca-cola in Cape Town costs R 16 (about 10 hours ago)

Cost of living in South Africa