Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 37.3% more expensive than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 34.7% less in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 28.3% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 57.8% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 5.6 times more in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0 times more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 59.6% less in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Asmara, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 34.7% less for restaurants

	Asmara	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-57.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-9.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+6.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.85 ZAR14.04	-14.9%
Average			-34.7%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.3% less for groceries

	Asmara	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.10 ZAR18.21
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$4.18 ZAR68.94	+178.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-26.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$2.47 ZAR40.74	-43.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-81.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-85.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+27.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-12.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+36.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-39.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$0.54 ZAR8.93	+27.9%
Average			-28.3%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 57.8% more for transportation

	Asmara	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$5.75 ZAR94.81	-39.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+2119.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-46.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$6.55 ZAR108.03
Average			+57.8%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Asmara	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$36.83 ZAR607.50	-81.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	+81.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+102.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+504.1%
Average			+102.7%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 5.6 times more for childcare

	Asmara	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+943.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	+200.8%
Average			+460.2%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+325.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$2.25 ZAR37.17	+181.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.25 ZAR53.60
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$31.49 ZAR519.46	+16.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+500.9%
Average			+198.3%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 59.6% less for clothing

	Asmara	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$53.03 ZAR874.71	-60.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-73.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	-54.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	-44.8%
Average			-59.6%

Asmara vs. Pretoria - Cost of clothing

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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

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