Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Australia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 50.9% cheaper than Australia overall.

Restaurants: pay 48.1% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 44.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 7.8% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 61.3% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 83.5% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 59.5% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 27.3% less in South Africa

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

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

South Africa vs. Australia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.1% less for restaurants

	Australia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.42 A$26.81	$10.21 ZAR168.71	-44.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.19 A$14.83	$5.91 ZAR97.64	-42.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 A$4.19	$1.08 ZAR17.90	-62.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.33 A$3.39	$0.84 ZAR13.80	-64.1%
Average			-48.1%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.4% less for groceries

	Australia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.64 A$3.84	$1.07 ZAR17.62	-59.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.67 A$6.80	$4.08 ZAR67.43	-12.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.28 A$9.14	$4.58 ZAR75.61	-27.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.79 A$6.97	$2.56 ZAR42.35	-46.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.19 A$6.10	$2.31 ZAR38.22	-44.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 A$2.35	$0.81 ZAR13.42	-49.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 A$1.92	$0.74 ZAR12.15	-44.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.35 A$1.97	$0.79 ZAR12.97	-41.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.06 A$3.00	$0.77 ZAR12.73	-62.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 A$1.73	$0.64 ZAR10.64	-45.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.05 A$1.53	$0.66 ZAR10.87	-37.3%
Average			-44.4%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.8% less for transportation

	Australia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 A$7.25	$5.49 ZAR90.67	+10.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$91.09 A$132.57	$65.15 ZAR1,076.21	-28.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,191.77 A$39,574.68	$32,517.32 ZAR537K	+19.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.22 A$25.07	$7.35 ZAR121.38	-57.3%
Average			-7.8%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 61.3% less for housing

	Australia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$57.16 A$83.18	$38.93 ZAR643.16	-31.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,309.09 A$1,905.24	$421.37 ZAR6,960.81	-67.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,073.97 A$1,563.04	$369.24 ZAR6,099.71	-65.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$146.37 A$213.03	$105.57 ZAR1,743.93	-27.9%
Average			-61.3%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 83.5% less for childcare

	Australia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,957.92 A$2,849.54	$199.53 ZAR3,296.18	-89.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,377.12 A$26,745.91	$4,917.78 ZAR81,238.86	-73.2%
Average			-83.5%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Australia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.20 A$10.48	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-68.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.95 A$5.75	$2.25 ZAR37.24	-42.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$36.89 A$53.69	$3.16 ZAR52.21	-91.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$56.05 A$81.58	$31.59 ZAR521.86	-43.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.44 A$21.01	$7.32 ZAR120.89	-49.3%
Average			-59.5%

Australia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.3% less for clothing

	Australia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.86 A$113.32	$52.66 ZAR869.89	-32.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.33 A$77.62	$34.13 ZAR563.79	-36.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.59 A$163.87	$99.75 ZAR1,647.83	-11.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.82 A$172.93	$86.61 ZAR1,430.70	-27.1%
Average			-27.3%

Australia vs. South Africa - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Australia vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Be 7.9 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Australia is about 6 times bigger than South Africa.

Moving from Australia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

5,771 people born in Australia live in South Africa.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Sydney vs Johannesburg

More cost comparisons

Australia vs.

Canada

Australia vs.

United States

Australia vs.

Norway

Australia vs.

Japan

Australia vs.

Germany

Australia vs.

New Caledonia

Australia vs.

Sweden

Australia vs.

India

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Canberra vs. Pretoria

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 Australia

Add prices for South Africa

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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