Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Bulgaria Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 10.3% more expensive than Bulgaria overall.

Restaurants: pay 19.4% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 4.9% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 28.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 34.3% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 37.1% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.6% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 15.8% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Bulgaria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.4% less for restaurants

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.15 BGN17.66	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+0.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 BGN16.77	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-38.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.44 BGN2.50	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-24.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 BGN1.75	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-16.9%
Average			-19.4%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.9% less for groceries

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 BGN1.65	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+12.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 BGN8.16	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-13.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.44 BGN11.21	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-29.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.03 BGN5.28	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-15.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 BGN5.70	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-29.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.70 BGN1.22	$0.81 ZAR13.40	+16.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 BGN1.47	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-13.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 BGN1.39	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-1.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 BGN1.82	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-26.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 BGN0.89	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+26.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 BGN0.77	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+49.6%
Average			-4.9%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.6% more for transportation

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.06 BGN10.54	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-9.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.17 BGN40.33	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+181.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,114.16 BGN52,407.07	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+8.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.01 BGN12.19	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+4.9%
Average			+28.6%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.3% more for housing

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.39 BGN23.30	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+190.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$353.09 BGN614.48	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+19.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$263.80 BGN459.09	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+40.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.79 BGN144.08	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+27.5%
Average			+34.3%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 37.1% less for childcare

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$384.45 BGN669.05	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-48.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,445.67 BGN11,217.27	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-23.7%
Average			-37.1%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.06 BGN3.59	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+9.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 BGN3.77	$2.25 ZAR37.18	+4.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.64 BGN6.33	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-13.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.52 BGN54.86	$31.59 ZAR521.05	+0.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.19 BGN12.52	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+1.7%
Average			+1.6%

Bulgaria vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% more for clothing

	Bulgaria	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.90 BGN86.85	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+5.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.26 BGN50.92	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+16.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.75 BGN135.31	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+28.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$76.05 BGN132.34	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+13.9%
Average			+15.8%

Bulgaria 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: Bulgaria vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Be 9.1 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Bulgaria is about 11 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Bulgaria to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

4,738 people born in Bulgaria live in South Africa.

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