Cost of living comparison

Burundi

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Burundi Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 29.5% more expensive than Burundi overall.

Restaurants: pay 64.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 30.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 11.5% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 85.0% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 0.9% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.3% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Burundi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.2% more for restaurants

	Burundi	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 BIF11,548	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+165.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.81 BIF11,426	$5.91 ZAR97.49	+55.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 BIF5,269	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-38.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.35 BIF4,052	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-38.2%
Average			+64.2%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.4% less for groceries

	Burundi	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 BIF6,014	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-46.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.16 BIF12,480	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-2.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.80 BIF11,382	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+20.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.60 BIF10,797	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-28.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.07 BIF15,195	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-54.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.65 BIF7,939	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-69.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.74 ZAR12.13
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 BIF2,728	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-13.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 BIF2,264	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+2.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.64 ZAR10.62
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.66 ZAR10.85
Average			-30.4%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.5% more for transportation

	Burundi	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 BIF15,118	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+8.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.09 BIF90,206	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+116.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$32,517.32 ZAR536K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.70 BIF95,016	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-76.8%
Average			+11.5%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 85.0% more for housing

	Burundi	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$67.62 BIF203K	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-42.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$433.02 BIF1M	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-2.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$90.78 BIF272K	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+306.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24
Average			+85.0%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 0.9% less for childcare

	Burundi	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$99.93 BIF300K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	+99.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,992.86 BIF30M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-50.8%
Average			-0.9%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Burundi	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.17 BIF6,501	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+3.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 BIF9,075	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-25.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.16 ZAR52.13
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.65 BIF79,875	$31.59 ZAR521.05	+18.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.67 BIF4,992	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+339.4%
Average			+49.3%

Burundi vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Burundi	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$52.66 ZAR868.55
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$34.13 ZAR562.92
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49

Burundi 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: Burundi vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 35.2 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Burundi is about 44 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Burundi to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

7,894 people born in Burundi live in South Africa.

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