Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 5.1% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 21.2% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 10.4% more in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 33.6% less in Riyadh
Housing: pay 15.6% more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 73.1% more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.6% more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 10.4% more in Riyadh

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

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Riyadh vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.2% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$7.99 SAR29.99	-33.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$7.99 SAR29.99	+33.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$0.87 SAR3.28	-32.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$0.31 SAR1.18	-68.4%
Average			-21.2%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.4% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$1.29 SAR4.83	+4.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$5.27 SAR19.77	+20.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$6.76 SAR25.38	+35.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$3.08 SAR11.57	-1.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$4.34 SAR16.27	+41.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$1.30 SAR4.88	+53.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.87 SAR3.28	+0.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$1.13 SAR4.23	+46.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$0.80 SAR2.99	-16.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$0.54 SAR2.04	-22.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$0.59 SAR2.21	-13.9%
Average			+10.4%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.6% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$2.35 SAR8.81	-59.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$37.31 SAR139.97	-37.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$34,642.08 SAR130K	-2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$18.12 SAR67.99	+43.6%
Average			-33.6%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.6% more for housing

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$71.73 SAR269.13	+79.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$1,186.87 SAR4,453.00	+16.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$833.69 SAR3,127.91	+18.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$81.86 SAR307.12	-7.5%
Average			+15.6%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 73.1% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$530.73 SAR1,991.25	+102.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$10,105.80 SAR37,915.67	+48.2%
Average			+73.1%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$2.13 SAR8.00	-29.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$4.28 SAR16.06	+76.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$7.73 SAR28.99	+114.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$89.94 SAR337.43	+82.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$13.32 SAR49.99	+47.8%
Average			+44.6%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.4% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$58.30 SAR218.72	+5.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$54.26 SAR203.59	+68.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$102.59 SAR384.92	-14.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$103.93 SAR389.92	-1.6%
Average			+10.4%

Cape Town vs. Riyadh - 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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Cape Town is about 1.4 times bigger than Riyadh.

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