Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 6.1% more expensive than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 46.7% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 10.4% more in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 88.3% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 25.9% less in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 29.6% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.3% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 4.1% less in Pretoria

The cost of transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries in Pretoria are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Expenses including childcare, housing, and clothing are lower in Pretoria. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Pretoria.

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Pretoria vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.7% more for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+125.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-16.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+75.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+29.5%
Average			+46.7%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.4% more for groceries

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-7.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$4.18 ZAR68.94	+13.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$4.45 ZAR73.36	+8.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+39.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-51.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-67.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+148.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-19.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+134.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.50 ZAR8.18	+125.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.54 ZAR8.93	+11.1%
Average			+10.4%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 88.3% more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+62.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+741.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-35.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$6.55 ZAR108.03	+85.8%
Average			+88.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.9% less for housing

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$36.83 ZAR607.50	-82.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-35.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+2.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	-26.3%
Average			-25.9%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.6% less for childcare

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+91.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-74.1%
Average			-29.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+219.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$2.25 ZAR37.17	+145.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-59.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-28.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+92.3%
Average			+49.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.1% less for clothing

	Addis Ababa	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+60.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-54.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+16.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+0.2%
Average			-4.1%

Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Addis Ababa vs. Pretoria

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Pretoria?

More cost comparisons

Addis Ababa vs.

Toronto

Addis Ababa vs.

Vienna

Addis Ababa vs.

Bangkok

Addis Ababa vs.

Cairo

Addis Ababa vs.

Berlin

Addis Ababa vs.

Shanghai

Addis Ababa vs.

Moscow

Addis Ababa vs.

London

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Ethiopia vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Ethiopia and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Addis Ababa

Add prices for Pretoria

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Pretoria or Addis Ababa. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.