Cost of living comparison

Greece

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Athens Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 9.0% cheaper than Athens.

Restaurants: pay 32.2% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 11.2% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 10.9% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 8.4% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 50.8% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.8% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 16.7% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Athens Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Athens, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 32.2% less for restaurants

	Athens	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.99	$12.02 ZAR199.18	-28.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.99	$6.01 ZAR99.59	-46.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.82 €2.52	$1.30 ZAR21.55	-53.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 €0.50	$0.99 ZAR16.45	+77.3%
Average			-32.2%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.2% less for groceries

	Athens	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$1.23 ZAR20.44	-13.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.56 €6.74	$4.39 ZAR72.76	-41.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.14 €6.37	$4.99 ZAR82.76	-30.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.99 €4.45	$3.14 ZAR52.04	-37.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.76 €4.25	$3.07 ZAR50.89	-35.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.85 ZAR14.06	-14.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.79	$0.87 ZAR14.42	-2.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$0.77 ZAR12.78	+20.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 €0.87	$0.95 ZAR15.78	-2.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 €0.43	$0.70 ZAR11.57	+44.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 €0.46	$0.68 ZAR11.35	+32.5%
Average			-11.2%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.9% more for transportation

	Athens	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.72 €7.78	$5.86 ZAR97.08	-32.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.23 €26.98	$60.09 ZAR995.89	+98.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,970.99 €24,965.18	$35,391.94 ZAR587K	+26.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.54 €11.19	$12.62 ZAR209.14	+0.6%
Average			+10.9%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.4% more for housing

	Athens	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.36 €27.10	$39.98 ZAR662.57	+31.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.36 €662.59	$1,017.49 ZAR16,863.66	+37.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$655.59 €585.14	$706.64 ZAR11,711.61	+7.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$160.58 €143.32	$88.53 ZAR1,467.33	-44.9%
Average			+8.4%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 50.8% less for childcare

	Athens	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$573.57 €511.93	$262.39 ZAR4,348.70	-54.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,885.92 €11,501.17	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-47.1%
Average			-50.8%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Athens	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €5.00	$3.00 ZAR49.79	-46.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.11 €3.67	$2.43 ZAR40.23	-40.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.60 €5.00	$3.61 ZAR59.75	-35.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.57 €48.70	$49.37 ZAR818.20	-9.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.64 €9.49	$9.01 ZAR149.38	-15.3%
Average			-28.8%

Athens vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.7% less for clothing

	Athens	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$91.55 €81.71	$55.49 ZAR919.73	-39.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.01 €35.71	$32.30 ZAR535.29	-19.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.08 €92.90	$119.84 ZAR1,986.24	+15.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.50 €110.23	$105.58 ZAR1,749.91	-14.5%
Average			-16.7%

Athens vs. Cape Town - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Athens is about 6 times smaller than Cape Town.

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