Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 10.0% cheaper than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 39.3% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 8.1% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 9.6% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 75.5% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 65.4% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.3% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 13.0% less in Cape Town

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

Cape Town vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Bucharest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 39.3% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.80 RON60.33	$11.47 ZAR194.18	-16.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.05 RON35.19	$5.16 ZAR87.38	-35.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.27 RON9.95	$1.20 ZAR20.35	-47.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 RON9.38	$0.92 ZAR15.53	-57.2%
Average			-39.3%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.1% less for groceries

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 RON6.31	$1.14 ZAR19.21	-21.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 RON21.79	$4.37 ZAR73.94	-12.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 RON29.15	$4.50 ZAR76.09	-32.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.62 RON15.82	$2.49 ZAR42.19	-31.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.38 RON14.79	$2.43 ZAR41.18	-28.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.64 RON2.81	$0.78 ZAR13.27	+22.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 RON3.44	$0.76 ZAR12.83	-3.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 RON3.50	$0.74 ZAR12.54	-7.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.18 RON5.18	$0.78 ZAR13.19	-34.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 RON2.03	$0.60 ZAR10.08	+28.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 RON2.06	$0.62 ZAR10.51	+32.0%
Average			-8.1%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.6% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.36 RON27.79	$4.73 ZAR80.12	-25.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.00 RON100.55	$28.68 ZAR485.44	+24.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,745.54 RON125,692.77	$21,796.50 ZAR368,934.03	-24.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.21 RON27.15	$10.15 ZAR171.85	+63.5%
Average			+9.6%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.5% more for housing

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.39 RON49.80	$42.97 ZAR727.40	+277.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$647.24 RON2,830.14	$838.02 ZAR14,184.54	+29.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$432.85 RON1,892.70	$559.94 ZAR9,477.63	+29.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$139.60 RON610.41	$91.96 ZAR1,556.46	-34.1%
Average			+75.5%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 65.4% less for childcare

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$664.86 RON2,907.18	$228.00 ZAR3,859.24	-65.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,582.52 RON63,763.52	$5,090.62 ZAR86,165.43	-65.1%
Average			-65.4%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.45 RON15.08	$2.87 ZAR48.54	-16.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.28 RON14.35	$2.12 ZAR35.82	-35.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.67 RON29.16	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-52.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.49 RON229.53	$44.05 ZAR745.55	-16.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.20 RON40.22	$6.88 ZAR116.51	-25.2%
Average			-29.3%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.0% less for clothing

	Bucharest	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$80.54 RON352.17	$55.23 ZAR934.82	-31.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.47 RON198.84	$33.91 ZAR573.94	-25.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.98 RON410.92	$117.06 ZAR1,981.48	+24.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.75 RON479.90	$88.13 ZAR1,491.79	-19.7%
Average			-13.0%

Bucharest vs. Cape Town - 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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