Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Cluj-napoca Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 7.6% cheaper than Cluj-napoca.

Restaurants
pay 37.0% less in Cape Town
Groceries
pay 4.9% less in Cape Town
Transportation
pay 1.5% less in Cape Town
Housing
pay 77.6% more in Cape Town
Childcare
pay 51.0% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports
pay 25.7% less in Cape Town
Clothing
pay 10.9% less in Cape Town

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Cape Town. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Cape Town.

Cape Town vs. Cluj-napoca Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Cluj-napoca, you would:

pay 37.0% less for restaurants

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $11.50
RON52.58
$11.47
ZAR188.63
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.05
RON36.81
$5.16
ZAR84.88
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.53
RON11.57
$1.20
ZAR19.77

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pay 4.9% less for groceries

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Bread
1 loaf
$1.38
RON6.31
$1.14
ZAR18.66
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.76
RON21.76
$4.37
ZAR71.82
Milk (1 gallon) $6.78
RON31.03
$4.50
ZAR73.92

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pay 1.5% less for transportation

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.36
RON29.09
$4.73
ZAR77.83
Monthly public transit pass $23.36
RON106.82
$28.68
ZAR471.56
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $28,336.34
RON130K
$21,796.50
ZAR358K

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pay 77.6% more for housing

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$9.97
RON45.61
$42.97
ZAR706.61
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $743.68
RON3,400.84
$838.02
ZAR13,779.11
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $585.48
RON2,677.40
$559.94
ZAR9,206.73

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pay 51.0% less for childcare

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $553.35
RON2,530.48
$228.00
ZAR3,748.94
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $8,983.94
RON41,083.56
$5,090.62
ZAR83,702.59

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pay 25.7% less for entertainment and sports

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.45
RON15.77
$2.87
ZAR47.16
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.43
RON15.68
$2.12
ZAR34.79
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.90
RON31.55
$3.15
ZAR51.87

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pay 10.9% less for clothing

 
Cluj-napoca
Cape Town
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$79.34
RON362.81
$55.23
ZAR908.10
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.64
RON194.99
$33.91
ZAR557.54
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$95.84
RON438.28
$117.06
ZAR1,924.84

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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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