Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Cairo Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 2.4 times more expensive than Cairo.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 4.1 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 83.0% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.4% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 8.7% more in South Africa

The cost of transportation, housing, restaurants, groceries, childcare, and entertainment and sports in South Africa are more expensive than in Cairo. Notably, transportation, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Cairo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Cairo	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.16 EGP197.67	$9.33 ZAR157.99	+124.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.19 EGP247.09	$5.11 ZAR86.54	-1.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 EGP18.12	$1.03 ZAR17.46	+170.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 EGP6.83	$0.80 ZAR13.59	+459.0%
Average			+188.2%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Cairo	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.60 EGP28.50	$1.00 ZAR16.97	+67.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 EGP89.23	$3.88 ZAR65.75	+107.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.73 EGP177.34	$4.37 ZAR73.98	+17.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.45 EGP68.83	$2.33 ZAR39.49	+61.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.06 EGP98.19	$2.13 ZAR36.12	+3.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.74 EGP35.37	$0.73 ZAR12.33	-2.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.34 EGP15.94	$0.65 ZAR11.04	+94.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.28 EGP13.53	$0.68 ZAR11.57	+140.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.13 EGP6.00	$0.71 ZAR12.00	+462.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.19 EGP8.95	$0.59 ZAR9.91	+211.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 EGP8.86	$0.60 ZAR10.16	+222.0%
Average			+125.8%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.1 times more for transportation

	Cairo	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.36 EGP64.79	$4.92 ZAR83.33	+261.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.44 EGP306.39	$56.18 ZAR950.86	+772.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,398.47 EGP1,779,045.04	$21,394.82 ZAR362,135.06	-42.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.66 EGP126.51	$9.34 ZAR158.05	+251.1%
Average			+310.5%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Cairo	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.92 EGP614.39	$39.36 ZAR666.17	+204.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$213.48 EGP10,155.21	$404.16 ZAR6,840.92	+89.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$137.13 EGP6,523.17	$361.59 ZAR6,120.39	+163.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 EGP909.77	$88.13 ZAR1,491.68	+360.8%
Average			+204.6%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 83.0% more for childcare

	Cairo	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$92.85 EGP4,416.73	$173.48 ZAR2,936.29	+86.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,210.79 EGP105,167.51	$3,962.11 ZAR67,063.83	+79.2%
Average			+83.0%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Cairo	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.45 EGP69.19	$2.18 ZAR36.86	+49.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 EGP76.86	$2.05 ZAR34.68	+26.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.08 EGP98.84	$2.96 ZAR50.17	+42.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$17.31 EGP823.61	$30.26 ZAR512.21	+74.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.74 EGP177.90	$6.85 ZAR115.92	+83.1%
Average			+55.4%

Cairo vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.7% more for clothing

	Cairo	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.96 EGP1,615.35	$50.74 ZAR858.89	+49.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 EGP2,158.95	$32.75 ZAR554.38	-27.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.30 EGP5,579.73	$94.19 ZAR1,594.31	-19.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$61.59 EGP2,929.78	$81.80 ZAR1,384.49	+32.8%
Average			+8.7%

Cairo vs. South Africa - 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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