Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Australia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 46.9% cheaper than Australia overall.

Restaurants: pay 54.0% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 43.5% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 23.8% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 47.7% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 79.8% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 57.4% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 22.2% less in South Africa

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, and transportation are lower in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Australia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Australia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.0% less for restaurants

	Australia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.15 A$26.23	$9.33 ZAR159.73	-45.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 A$14.74	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-47.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.63 A$4.03	$1.03 ZAR17.65	-60.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 A$3.28	$0.80 ZAR13.74	-62.5%
Average			-54.0%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.5% less for groceries

	Australia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.39 A$3.66	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-58.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.21 A$6.45	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-7.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.84 A$8.94	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-25.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.36 A$6.68	$2.33 ZAR39.93	-46.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 A$5.92	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-44.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.27	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-50.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.27 A$1.94	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-48.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 A$2.01	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-48.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 A$2.95	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-63.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 A$1.68	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-46.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 A$1.49	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-38.5%
Average			-43.5%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.8% less for transportation

	Australia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 A$6.85	$4.92 ZAR84.25	+10.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$86.18 A$131.83	$56.18 ZAR961.29	-34.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,666.22 A$42,322.49	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-22.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.83 A$27.28	$9.34 ZAR159.79	-47.6%
Average			-23.8%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.7% less for housing

	Australia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.93 A$84.03	$39.36 ZAR673.48	-28.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,188.50 A$1,818.11	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-66.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$962.42 A$1,472.26	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	-62.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.71 A$204.55	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	-34.1%
Average			-47.7%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 79.8% less for childcare

	Australia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,475.00 A$2,256.38	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-88.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,848.50 A$21,184.78	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-71.4%
Average			-79.8%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 57.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Australia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.47 A$9.90	$2.18 ZAR37.27	-66.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 A$5.45	$2.05 ZAR35.06	-42.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.78 A$44.02	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-89.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.13 A$78.22	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-40.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.10 A$20.04	$6.85 ZAR117.19	-47.7%
Average			-57.4%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.2% less for clothing

	Australia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.65 A$106.54	$50.74 ZAR868.31	-27.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.53 A$74.24	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-32.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.22 A$151.78	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	-5.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.98 A$165.18	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-24.2%
Average			-22.2%

Australia vs. South Africa - 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: December 2025

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