Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Malaysia

Ipoh vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Ipoh is 39.6% cheaper than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 56.2% less in Ipoh
Groceries: pay 1.2% more in Ipoh
Transportation: pay 38.0% less in Ipoh
Housing: pay 61.2% less in Ipoh
Childcare: pay 48.1% more in Ipoh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.3% less in Ipoh
Clothing: pay 22.0% less in Ipoh

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

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Ipoh vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ipoh instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 56.2% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.22	$3.30 MYR13.49	-72.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.11	$4.40 MYR17.99	-26.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.44	$0.72 MYR2.95	-44.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.37	$0.46 MYR1.88	-53.6%
Average			-56.2%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.2% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.34	$1.04 MYR4.26	-15.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.41	$6.76 MYR27.59	+53.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.36	$7.67 MYR31.30	+53.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.78	$2.28 MYR9.31	-27.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.65	$2.02 MYR8.25	-34.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR13.99	$1.39 MYR5.67	+63.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.35	$0.82 MYR3.34	-5.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.72	$1.04 MYR4.23	+34.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.70	$0.71 MYR2.91	-25.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.51	$0.59 MYR2.41	-15.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.29	$0.62 MYR2.54	-9.2%
Average			+1.2%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.0% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.61	$1.90 MYR7.75	-67.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR991.09	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$41,736.41 MYR170K	+17.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.13	$11.01 MYR44.96	-12.7%
Average			-38.0%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.2% less for housing

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR659.39	$26.27 MYR107.27	-34.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	$367.05 MYR1,498.75	-63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	$244.70 MYR999.17	-65.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	$47.56 MYR194.21	-46.3%
Average			-61.2%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of housing

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pay 48.1% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	+14.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	+92.4%
Average			+48.1%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.55	$4.40 MYR17.99	+46.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.04	$2.81 MYR11.49	+15.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.47	$4.40 MYR17.99	+22.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR814.26	$24.47 MYR99.92	-50.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.66	$3.43 MYR13.99	-62.0%
Average			-25.3%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.0% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Ipoh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR915.30	$61.18 MYR249.79	+10.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR532.71	$36.71 MYR149.88	+13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	$61.18 MYR249.79	-49.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	$61.18 MYR249.79	-42.1%
Average			-22.0%

Cape Town vs. Ipoh - 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

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