Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Chile

Santiago vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 18.7% cheaper than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 11.3% more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 1.3% more in Santiago
Transportation: pay 30.4% less in Santiago
Housing: pay 39.0% less in Santiago
Childcare: pay 62.8% more in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.8% more in Santiago
Clothing: pay 23.6% less in Santiago

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

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Santiago vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.3% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.53	$10.23 CLF0.2500	-14.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.27	$8.70 CLF0.2200	+44.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 ZAR21.48	$1.71 CLF0.0400	+31.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR16.40	$1.25 CLF0.0300	+25.7%
Average			+11.3%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.3% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 ZAR20.38	$1.81 CLF0.0400	+47.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.52	$5.64 CLF0.1400	+28.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.49	$4.81 CLF0.1200	-3.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.14 ZAR51.87	$4.18 CLF0.1000	+33.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.07 ZAR50.73	$3.11 CLF0.0800	+1.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 ZAR14.01	$0.90 CLF0.0200	+6.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.38	$0.70 CLF0.0200	-19.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.74	$0.74 CLF0.0200	-4.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 ZAR15.73	$0.78 CLF0.0200	-17.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.53	$0.49 CLF0.0100	-29.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.31	$0.68 CLF0.0200	-1.1%
Average			+1.3%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.4% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.86 ZAR96.77	$5.77 CLF0.1400	-1.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.09 ZAR992.66	$40.93 CLF1.0100	-31.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	$17,743.12 CLF439.1400	-49.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.46	$7.37 CLF0.1800	-41.6%
Average			-30.4%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.0% less for housing

	Cape Town	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.98 ZAR660.43	$19.07 CLF0.4700	-52.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	$552.81 CLF13.6800	-45.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	$376.90 CLF9.3300	-46.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	$113.86 CLF2.8200	+28.6%
Average			-39.0%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 62.8% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	$432.52 CLF10.7000	+64.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	$10,959.69 CLF271.2500	+60.7%
Average			+62.8%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 ZAR49.63	$4.09 CLF0.1000	+36.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 ZAR40.10	$3.25 CLF0.0800	+33.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.56	$5.22 CLF0.1300	+44.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.37 ZAR815.55	$33.92 CLF0.8400	-31.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.01 ZAR148.90	$7.52 CLF0.1900	-16.6%
Average			+1.8%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.6% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.49 ZAR916.75	$50.25 CLF1.2400	-9.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.30 ZAR533.55	$28.71 CLF0.7100	-11.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	$66.29 CLF1.6400	-44.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	$80.84 CLF2.0000	-23.4%
Average			-23.6%

Cape Town vs. Santiago - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Cape Town is about 1.2 times bigger than Santiago.

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