Cost of living comparison

compared to

Johannesburg vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 31.5% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 12.1% more in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 89.2% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 70.9% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 72.7% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.0% more in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 2.0% less in Johannesburg

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

Johannesburg vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$11.47 ZAR194.18	+172.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$4.93 ZAR83.50	+0.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$1.06 ZAR17.97	+121.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$0.84 ZAR14.15	+172.3%
Average			+116.8%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.1% more for groceries

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$1.11 ZAR18.74	-35.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$4.31 ZAR73.04	-42.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$4.73 ZAR80.15	-28.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$2.37 ZAR40.15	+33.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$2.30 ZAR39.00	+50.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-20.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.72 ZAR12.12	-6.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$0.72 ZAR12.15	-10.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$0.80 ZAR13.51	+32.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.66 ZAR11.14	+88.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$0.70 ZAR11.91	+70.5%
Average			+12.1%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 89.2% more for transportation

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$4.84 ZAR81.88	+14.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	$86.04 ZAR1,456.32	+172.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$22,943.68 ZAR388,351.61	+25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$11.24 ZAR190.29	+143.0%
Average			+89.2%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.9% more for housing

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$41.63 ZAR704.68	+221.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$434.32 ZAR7,351.50	-53.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$380.92 ZAR6,447.52	-24.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$94.21 ZAR1,594.62	+139.9%
Average			+70.9%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 72.7% less for childcare

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$218.24 ZAR3,693.96	-69.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$5,560.97 ZAR94,126.72	-76.1%
Average			-72.7%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$2.58 ZAR43.69	+130.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$2.24 ZAR37.95	-22.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-25.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$35.07 ZAR593.56	-39.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$7.31 ZAR123.79	-13.1%
Average			+6.0%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0% less for clothing

	Beijing	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$53.86 ZAR911.70	-13.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$41.32 ZAR699.47	+13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$92.73 ZAR1,569.59	+13.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$82.91 ZAR1,403.29	-21.4%
Average			-2.0%

Beijing vs. Johannesburg - 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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