Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Malaysia

Selangor vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Selangor is 16.2% cheaper than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 48.9% less in Selangor
Groceries: pay 14.0% more in Selangor
Transportation: pay 7.5% less in Selangor
Housing: pay 43.6% less in Selangor
Childcare: pay 31.4% less in Selangor
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.9% more in Selangor
Clothing: pay 6.2% less in Selangor

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

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Selangor vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.9% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Selangor
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.47 ZAR188.63	$2.84 MYR11.65	-75.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 ZAR84.88	$3.79 MYR15.53	-26.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 ZAR19.77	$0.79 MYR3.24	-34.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 ZAR15.09	$0.37 MYR1.53	-59.4%
Average			-48.9%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Selangor
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 ZAR18.66	$0.98 MYR4.00	-14.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 ZAR71.82	$7.13 MYR29.19	+63.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.50 ZAR73.92	$6.91 MYR28.28	+53.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.49 ZAR40.98	$1.88 MYR7.69	-24.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.43 ZAR40.01	$2.09 MYR8.58	-13.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.78 ZAR12.89	$1.32 MYR5.41	+68.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.46	$0.75 MYR3.06	-1.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.18	$1.22 MYR5.00	+64.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 ZAR12.81	$0.69 MYR2.83	-11.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR9.79	$0.57 MYR2.32	-5.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 ZAR10.21	$0.47 MYR1.91	-25.0%
Average			+14.0%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.5% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Selangor
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.73 ZAR77.83	$1.84 MYR7.55	-61.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.68 ZAR471.56	$11.85 MYR48.53	-58.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,796.50 ZAR358K	$40,284.36 MYR165K	+84.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.15 ZAR166.93	$10.66 MYR43.68	+5.0%
Average			-7.5%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.6% less for housing

	Cape Town	Selangor
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.97 ZAR706.61	$25.49 MYR104.39	-40.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$838.02 ZAR13,779.11	$444.31 MYR1,819.86	-47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$559.94 ZAR9,206.73	$349.53 MYR1,431.62	-37.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.96 ZAR1,511.97	$46.59 MYR190.83	-49.3%
Average			-43.6%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of housing

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pay 31.4% less for childcare

	Cape Town	Selangor
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.00 ZAR3,748.94	$118.48 MYR485.30	-48.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,090.62 ZAR83,702.59	$4,344.39 MYR17,794.19	-14.7%
Average			-31.4%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Selangor
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.87 ZAR47.16	$4.27 MYR17.47	+48.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR34.79	$2.21 MYR9.06	+4.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.15 ZAR51.87	$4.27 MYR17.47	+35.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.05 ZAR724.24	$39.10 MYR160.15	-11.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.88 ZAR113.18	$4.98 MYR20.38	-27.7%
Average			+9.9%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.2% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Selangor
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.23 ZAR908.10	$61.66 MYR252.55	+11.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.91 ZAR557.54	$37.10 MYR151.98	+9.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.06 ZAR1,924.84	$75.75 MYR310.27	-35.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.13 ZAR1,449.15	$78.99 MYR323.53	-10.4%
Average			-6.2%

Cape Town vs. Selangor - 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: July 2026

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