Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. British Virgin Islands Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 43.4% cheaper than British Virgin Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 54.3% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 60.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 6.2% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 57.2% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 57.7% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.7% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 26.9% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. British Virgin Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of British Virgin Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.3% less for restaurants

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$24.49	$9.33 ZAR157.52	-61.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.25	$5.11 ZAR86.28	-61.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.97	$1.03 ZAR17.41	-47.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.50	$0.80 ZAR13.55	-46.5%
Average			-54.3%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.4% less for groceries

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$4.96	$1.00 ZAR16.92	-79.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.75	$3.88 ZAR65.55	-49.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.43	$4.37 ZAR73.76	-53.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.10	$2.33 ZAR39.37	-61.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.21	$2.13 ZAR36.01	-59.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56	$0.73 ZAR12.29	-53.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.59	$0.65 ZAR11.00	-59.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91	$0.68 ZAR11.53	-24.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.22	$0.71 ZAR11.97	-78.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.39	$0.59 ZAR9.88	-75.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.95	$0.60 ZAR10.12	-69.3%
Average			-60.4%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.2% more for transportation

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.64	$4.92 ZAR83.08	+6.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$56.18 ZAR948.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$21,394.82 ZAR361,047.35
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$9.34 ZAR157.58
Average			+6.2%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.2% less for housing

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$120.00	$39.36 ZAR664.17	-67.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,458.33	$404.16 ZAR6,820.37	-72.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,183.33	$361.59 ZAR6,102.01	-69.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$110.12	$88.13 ZAR1,487.20	-20.0%
Average			-57.2%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 57.7% less for childcare

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$375.00	$173.48 ZAR2,927.47	-53.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,320.00	$3,962.11 ZAR66,862.39	-61.6%
Average			-57.7%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.7% less for entertainment and sports

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.75	$2.18 ZAR36.75	-41.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.04	$2.05 ZAR34.58	-66.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.00	$2.96 ZAR50.02	-40.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$120.00	$30.26 ZAR510.68	-74.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.50	$6.85 ZAR115.57	-45.2%
Average			-53.7%

British Virgin Islands vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.9% less for clothing

	British Virgin Islands	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.50	$50.74 ZAR856.31	+6.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.00	$32.75 ZAR552.72	-40.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$155.00	$94.19 ZAR1,589.52	-39.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.00	$81.80 ZAR1,380.33	-34.6%
Average			-26.9%

British Virgin Islands 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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