Cost of living comparison

Hungary

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 13.0% cheaper than Budapest.

Restaurants: pay 34.2% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 2.9% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 27.7% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 18.1% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 55.2% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.0% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 18.6% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.2% less for restaurants

	Budapest	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.77 HUF4,485.49	$12.02 ZAR198.53	-12.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.17 HUF3,314.28	$6.01 ZAR99.27	-40.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.08 HUF678.60	$1.30 ZAR21.48	-37.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 HUF595.67	$0.99 ZAR16.40	-45.7%
Average			-34.2%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9% less for groceries

	Budapest	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.80 HUF585.07	$1.23 ZAR20.38	-31.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 HUF1,815.79	$4.39 ZAR72.52	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.40 HUF1,431.88	$4.99 ZAR82.49	+13.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.88 HUF1,262.53	$3.14 ZAR51.87	-19.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.10 HUF1,010.60	$3.07 ZAR50.73	-1.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 HUF276.70	$0.85 ZAR14.01	-0.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 HUF305.34	$0.87 ZAR14.38	-7.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 HUF344.10	$0.77 ZAR12.74	-27.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 HUF562.62	$0.95 ZAR15.73	-44.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 HUF145.67	$0.70 ZAR11.53	+56.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 HUF148.64	$0.68 ZAR11.31	+50.0%
Average			-2.9%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.7% more for transportation

	Budapest	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.07 HUF2,302.27	$5.86 ZAR96.77	-17.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.54 HUF8,970.99	$60.09 ZAR992.66	+118.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,374.56 HUF10M	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+20.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.14 HUF4,605.11	$12.62 ZAR208.46	-10.7%
Average			+27.7%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.1% more for housing

	Budapest	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$23.57 HUF7,679.33	$39.98 ZAR660.43	+69.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$817.66 HUF266K	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	+24.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.44 HUF206K	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	+11.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.77 HUF43,251.49	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	-33.3%
Average			+18.1%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 55.2% less for childcare

	Budapest	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$539.65 HUF176K	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	-51.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,674.34 HUF5M	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-59.1%
Average			-55.2%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Budapest	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.67 HUF1,196.13	$3.00 ZAR49.63	-18.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 HUF1,089.79	$2.43 ZAR40.10	-27.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.96 HUF2,591.62	$3.61 ZAR59.56	-54.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.07 HUF21,849.34	$49.37 ZAR815.55	-26.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.33 HUF3,040.17	$9.01 ZAR148.90	-3.4%
Average			-26.0%

Budapest vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.6% less for clothing

	Budapest	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$100.01 HUF32,578.86	$55.49 ZAR916.75	-44.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.98 HUF14,000.28	$32.30 ZAR533.55	-24.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.36 HUF36,928.20	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	+5.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.19 HUF38,500.50	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	-10.7%
Average			-18.6%

Budapest 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: October 2026

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