Cost of living comparison

Brunei

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Brunei Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 3.6% cheaper than Brunei overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.6% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 36.0% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 4.0 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 26.4% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 31.1% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.2% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 31.1% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Brunei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.6% more for restaurants

	Brunei	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.86 BND7.51	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+74.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.92 BND8.86	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-14.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 BND1.18	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+17.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 BND0.66	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+62.0%
Average			+29.6%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.0% less for groceries

	Brunei	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.10 BND2.68	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-49.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.08 BND9.06	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-42.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.05 BND9.03	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-35.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.35 BND3.01	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+9.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.23 BND4.13	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-28.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 BND2.29	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-54.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 BND1.27	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-25.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 BND2.28	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-55.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 BND1.48	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-33.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 BND0.99	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-16.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 BND1.42	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-40.6%
Average			-36.0%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.0 times more for transportation

	Brunei	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.47 BND1.89	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+273.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$0.78 BND1.00	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+8240.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,115.17 BND47,549.96	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-12.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.47 BND39.04	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-75.9%
Average			+299.4%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.4% less for housing

	Brunei	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.11 BND83.42	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-40.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$731.42 BND937.05	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-42.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$627.34 BND803.71	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-41.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.39 BND49.18	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+175.0%
Average			-26.4%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 31.1% less for childcare

	Brunei	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.82 BND277.78	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-8.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,524.22 BND12,201.92	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-48.4%
Average			-31.1%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Brunei	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 BND2.50	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+15.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.22 BND5.40	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.72 BND15.01	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-73.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.62 BND91.75	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-55.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 BND7.01	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+33.8%
Average			-30.2%

Brunei vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.1% less for clothing

	Brunei	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.18 BND97.60	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-30.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$97.53 BND124.95	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-65.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.15 BND164.18	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	-22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.27 BND92.59	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+19.8%
Average			-31.1%

Brunei 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: Brunei vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 6.1 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Brunei is about 211 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Brunei to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

24 people born in Brunei live in South Africa.

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