Cost of living comparison

compared to

Buenos Aires vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Buenos Aires is 35.6% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 80.5% more in Buenos Aires
Groceries: pay 38.0% more in Buenos Aires
Transportation: pay 7.7% less in Buenos Aires
Housing: pay 15.1% less in Buenos Aires
Childcare: pay 34.5% more in Buenos Aires
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.8% more in Buenos Aires
Clothing: pay 84.5% more in Buenos Aires

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

Buenos Aires vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Buenos Aires instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 80.5% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.47 ZAR192.49	$18.00 ARS26,115.45	+56.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 ZAR86.62	$12.00 ARS17,410.30	+132.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 ZAR20.18	$2.18 ARS3,164.50	+81.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 ZAR15.40	$1.39 ARS2,013.97	+51.3%
Average			+80.5%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.0% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 ZAR19.05	$2.89 ARS4,194.11	+154.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 ZAR73.29	$6.13 ARS8,898.60	+40.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.50 ZAR75.43	$5.84 ARS8,468.98	+29.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.49 ZAR41.82	$3.29 ARS4,771.86	+32.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.43 ZAR40.82	$3.92 ARS5,686.63	+61.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.78 ZAR13.16	$1.15 ARS1,669.85	+46.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.72	$0.96 ARS1,394.68	+26.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.43	$0.57 ARS821.69	-23.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 ZAR13.08	$1.14 ARS1,653.41	+46.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR9.99	$0.66 ARS955.61	+10.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 ZAR10.41	$0.58 ARS839.86	-6.7%
Average			+38.0%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.7% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.73 ZAR79.42	$4.31 ARS6,257.33	-8.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.68 ZAR481.22	$20.00 ARS29,017.17	-30.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,796.50 ZAR365,723.62	$25,000.00 ARS36,271,460.00	+14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.15 ZAR170.35	$9.51 ARS13,804.86	-6.3%
Average			-7.7%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.1% less for housing

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.97 ZAR721.07	$29.42 ARS42,687.67	-31.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$838.02 ZAR14,061.11	$659.06 ARS956,209.27	-21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$559.94 ZAR9,395.16	$463.75 ARS672,831.64	-17.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.96 ZAR1,542.92	$100.98 ARS146,505.16	+9.8%
Average			-15.1%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of housing

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pay 34.5% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.00 ZAR3,825.66	$367.39 ARS533,032.76	+61.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,090.62 ZAR85,415.63	$5,496.25 ARS7,974,280.48	+8.0%
Average			+34.5%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.87 ZAR48.12	$3.80 ARS5,513.26	+32.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR35.51	$4.13 ARS5,985.65	+95.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.15 ZAR52.93	$3.68 ARS5,339.16	+16.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.05 ZAR739.07	$43.59 ARS63,238.39	-1.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.88 ZAR115.49	$9.00 ARS13,057.73	+30.8%
Average			+34.8%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 84.5% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Buenos Aires
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.23 ZAR926.68	$112.87 ARS163,753.74	+104.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.91 ZAR568.95	$91.59 ARS132,888.76	+170.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.06 ZAR1,964.23	$129.33 ARS187,644.35	+10.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.13 ZAR1,478.81	$134.94 ARS195,772.69	+53.1%
Average			+84.5%

Cape Town vs. Buenos Aires - 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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