Cost of living comparison

Colombia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Colombia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 20.5% cheaper than Colombia overall.

Restaurants: pay 7.8% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 19.3% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 5.0% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 26.8% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 54.7% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.5% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 31.1% less in South Africa

Expenses including childcare, clothing, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are lower in South Africa.

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South Africa vs. Colombia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Colombia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.8% less for restaurants

	Colombia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.09 COP22,489.29	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+44.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.93 COP31,528.63	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-40.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.50 COP4,759.09	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-27.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 COP3,637.93	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-27.1%
Average			-7.8%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.3% less for groceries

	Colombia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.08 COP6,604.13	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-48.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.94 COP12,511.51	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+3.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.55 COP17,600.16	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-17.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 COP9,765.50	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-16.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.90 COP15,548.14	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-52.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.60 COP5,080.61	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-49.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 COP1,990.45	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+17.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 COP2,297.32	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+8.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 COP2,778.06	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-12.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 COP2,174.11	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-6.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.64 COP2,046.26	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+2.0%
Average			-19.3%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.0% more for transportation

	Colombia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.89 COP15,507.12	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+12.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$57.51 COP183K	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+13.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,696.92 COP78M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+31.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.04 COP66,775.93	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-65.1%
Average			+5.0%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.8% less for housing

	Colombia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.89 COP88,530.84	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+39.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$745.73 COP2M	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-43.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$482.25 COP2M	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-23.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$101.48 COP322K	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+4.0%
Average			-26.8%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 54.7% less for childcare

	Colombia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$597.35 COP2M	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-66.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,009.31 COP25M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-38.6%
Average			-54.7%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Colombia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 COP8,214.62	$2.25 ZAR37.13	-13.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.72 COP8,641.67	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-17.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.03 COP12,788.35	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-21.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.34 COP131K	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-23.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.65 COP21,122.50	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+10.0%
Average			-12.5%

Colombia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.1% less for clothing

	Colombia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$82.92 COP263K	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-36.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.80 COP171K	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-36.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.00 COP425K	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	-25.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.03 COP365K	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-24.7%
Average			-31.1%

Colombia vs. South Africa - 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

Compare further: Colombia vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 3.9 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Colombia is around the same size as South Africa.

Moving from Colombia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

714 people born in Colombia live in South Africa.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Bogota vs Johannesburg

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