Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 22.0% cheaper than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 15.4% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 16.8% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 13.5% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 42.9% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 61.9% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.4% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 8.2% less in Cape Town

The cost of restaurants and transportation in Cape Town are more expensive than in Abu Dhabi. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

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Cape Town vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Abu Dhabi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.4% more for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.89 AED40.00	$11.47 ZAR188.63	+5.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$5.16 ZAR84.88	-45.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.29 AED4.74	$1.20 ZAR19.77	-6.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 AED1.61	$0.92 ZAR15.09	+108.7%
Average			+15.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.8% less for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 AED5.89	$1.14 ZAR18.66	-29.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 AED19.39	$4.37 ZAR71.82	-17.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.50 AED27.54	$4.50 ZAR73.92	-40.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.64 AED13.37	$2.49 ZAR40.98	-31.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 AED15.11	$2.43 ZAR40.01	-40.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 AED4.21	$0.78 ZAR12.89	-31.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 AED3.00	$0.76 ZAR12.46	-7.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 AED3.05	$0.74 ZAR12.18	-10.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 AED2.46	$0.78 ZAR12.81	+16.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$0.60 ZAR9.79	+11.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 AED2.39	$0.62 ZAR10.21	-4.8%
Average			-16.8%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.5% more for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.94 AED10.80	$4.73 ZAR77.83	+61.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.87 AED95.00	$28.68 ZAR471.56	+10.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,639.07 AED164K	$21,796.50 ZAR358K	-51.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$10.15 ZAR166.93	+33.2%
Average			+13.5%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.9% less for housing

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$100.96 AED370.79	$42.97 ZAR706.61	-57.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,490.68 AED5,474.52	$838.02 ZAR13,779.11	-43.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,109.19 AED4,073.48	$559.94 ZAR9,206.73	-49.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.93 AED425.75	$91.96 ZAR1,511.97	-20.7%
Average			-42.9%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 61.9% less for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.43 AED2,296.88	$228.00 ZAR3,748.94	-63.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,786.81 AED46,959.57	$5,090.62 ZAR83,702.59	-60.2%
Average			-61.9%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.29 AED41.45	$2.87 ZAR47.16	-74.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.77 AED21.18	$2.12 ZAR34.79	-63.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.26 AED23.00	$3.15 ZAR51.87	-49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.90 AED230.98	$44.05 ZAR724.24	-30.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.61 AED50.00	$6.88 ZAR113.18	-49.4%
Average			-53.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.2% less for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.62 AED222.62	$55.23 ZAR908.10	-8.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.93 AED190.71	$33.91 ZAR557.54	-34.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.09 AED360.23	$117.06 ZAR1,924.84	+19.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.21 AED353.33	$88.13 ZAR1,449.15	-8.4%
Average			-8.2%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: July 2026

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