Cost of living comparison

Belgium

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Belgium Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 45.3% cheaper than Belgium overall.

Restaurants: pay 56.3% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 35.8% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 17.3% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 51.7% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 78.5% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.6% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 28.5% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Belgium Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 56.3% less for restaurants

	Belgium	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.51 €19.15	$10.21 ZAR168.45	-52.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.72 €11.32	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-53.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.15 €2.80	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-65.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 €2.40	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-69.0%
Average			-56.3%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.8% less for groceries

	Belgium	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.56 €2.28	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-58.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.21 €6.41	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-43.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.74 €4.22	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-3.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.84 €3.42	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-33.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.29 €4.71	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-56.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.23 €1.09	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-33.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-25.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 €1.00	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-30.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.12	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-39.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-35.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 €0.70	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-16.2%
Average			-35.8%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.3% less for transportation

	Belgium	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.52 €6.70	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-27.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.17 €44.65	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+29.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,462.94 €30,673.26	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.26 €23.37	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-72.0%
Average			-17.3%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 51.7% less for housing

	Belgium	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.15 €45.52	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-23.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$940.80 €837.35	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-55.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$826.78 €735.87	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-55.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$167.89 €149.43	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-37.1%
Average			-51.7%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 78.5% less for childcare

	Belgium	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$923.48 €821.93	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-78.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,984.85 €20,457.34	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-78.6%
Average			-78.5%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Belgium	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.94 €4.40	$2.25 ZAR37.13	-54.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.03 €3.58	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-44.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.32 €10.96	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-74.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.18 €32.20	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-12.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.23 €12.66	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-48.6%
Average			-45.6%

Belgium vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.5% less for clothing

	Belgium	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$100.04 €89.04	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-47.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.19 €38.44	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-21.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.42 €85.82	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+3.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$142.81 €127.10	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-39.4%
Average			-28.5%

Belgium vs. South Africa - 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

Compare further: Belgium vs. South Africa

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Size Comparison · See true size

Belgium is about 40 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Belgium to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

9,577 people born in Belgium live in South Africa.

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