Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 24.6% more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 7.7% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 32.7% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 63.0% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 36.4% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 16.0% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.7% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 17.7% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.7% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL201.58	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+7.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL156.22	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-30.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.71	$1.30 ZAR21.44	+7.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL16.00	$0.99 ZAR16.37	+11.5%
Average			-7.7%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.7% more for groceries

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.77	$1.23 ZAR20.34	+73.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.82	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL85.03	$4.99 ZAR82.36	+5.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL50.06	$3.14 ZAR51.78	+12.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.34	$3.07 ZAR50.65	+30.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.87	$0.85 ZAR13.99	+93.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.68	$0.87 ZAR14.35	-0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.87	$0.77 ZAR12.72	-17.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL18.06	$0.95 ZAR15.70	-5.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.61	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+123.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.42	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+178.3%
Average			+32.7%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 63.0% more for transportation

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.64	$5.86 ZAR96.61	-9.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL242.90	$60.09 ZAR991.09	+344.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL530K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+19.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.69	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+155.6%
Average			+63.0%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.4% more for housing

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL190.33	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+277.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+49.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+62.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	-52.4%
Average			+36.4%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 16.0% less for childcare

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-39.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL105K	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	+16.7%
Average			-16.0%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.32	$3.00 ZAR49.55	+33.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.87	$2.43 ZAR40.04	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.48	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+5.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL748.71	$49.37 ZAR814.26	+18.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL151.18	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+7.1%
Average			+15.7%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.7% less for clothing

	Chisinau	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-30.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL845.61	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-31.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+5.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	-8.6%
Average			-17.7%

Chisinau vs. Cape Town - 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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