Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bucharest vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary
Bucharest is 47.7% more expensive than Cape Town.
- Restaurants
-
pay 74.8% more in Bucharest
- Groceries
-
pay 15.8% more in Bucharest
- Transportation
-
pay 1.9% more in Bucharest
- Housing
-
pay 16.8% less in Bucharest
- Childcare
-
pay 2.9 times more in Bucharest
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 47.9% more in Bucharest
- Clothing
-
pay 21.2% more in Bucharest
The cost of childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, and transportation in Bucharest are more expensive than in Cape Town. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Bucharest.
Bucharest vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bucharest instead of Cape Town, you would:
pay 74.8% more for restaurants
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.47
ZAR194.18
|
$13.80
RON60.33
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.16
ZAR87.38
|
$8.05
RON35.19
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.20
ZAR20.35
|
$2.27
RON9.95
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.92
ZAR15.53
|
$2.15
RON9.38
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.8% more for groceries
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.14
ZAR19.21
|
$1.44
RON6.31
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.37
ZAR73.94
|
$4.98
RON21.79
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.50
ZAR76.09
|
$6.67
RON29.15
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.49
ZAR42.19
|
$3.62
RON15.82
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.43
ZAR41.18
|
$3.38
RON14.79
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.78
ZAR13.27
|
$0.64
RON2.81
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
ZAR12.83
|
$0.79
RON3.44
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.74
ZAR12.54
|
$0.80
RON3.50
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.78
ZAR13.19
|
$1.18
RON5.18
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.60
ZAR10.08
|
$0.46
RON2.03
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.62
ZAR10.51
|
$0.47
RON2.06
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries
pay 1.9% more for transportation
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.73
ZAR80.12
|
$6.36
RON27.79
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$28.68
ZAR485.44
|
$23.00
RON100.55
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$21,796.50
ZAR368,934.03
|
$28,745.54
RON125,692.77
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$10.15
ZAR171.85
|
$6.21
RON27.15
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation
pay 16.8% less for housing
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$42.97
ZAR727.40
|
$11.39
RON49.80
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$838.02
ZAR14,184.54
|
$647.24
RON2,830.14
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$559.94
ZAR9,477.63
|
$432.85
RON1,892.70
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$91.96
ZAR1,556.46
|
$139.60
RON610.41
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing
pay 2.9 times more for childcare
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$228.00
ZAR3,859.24
|
$664.86
RON2,907.18
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$5,090.62
ZAR86,165.43
|
$14,582.52
RON63,763.52
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare
pay 47.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.87
ZAR48.54
|
$3.45
RON15.08
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.12
ZAR35.82
|
$3.28
RON14.35
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$3.15
ZAR53.40
|
$6.67
RON29.16
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$44.05
ZAR745.55
|
$52.49
RON229.53
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$6.88
ZAR116.51
|
$9.20
RON40.22
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 21.2% more for clothing
|
Cape Town
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.23
ZAR934.82
|
$80.54
RON352.17
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$33.91
ZAR573.94
|
$45.47
RON198.84
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$117.06
ZAR1,981.48
|
$93.98
RON410.92
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$88.13
ZAR1,491.79
|
$109.75
RON479.90
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bucharest - Cost of clothing
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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