Cost of living comparison

Denmark

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Copenhagen Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 47.2% cheaper than Copenhagen.

Restaurants: pay 55.2% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 49.8% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 36.7% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 46.2% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 53.8% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.8% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 37.6% less in Cape Town

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, childcare, groceries, housing, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

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Cape Town vs. Copenhagen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.2% less for restaurants

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.97 DKK139.94	$12.02 ZAR198.53	-42.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.48 DKK89.96	$6.01 ZAR99.27	-55.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.10 DKK34.01	$1.30 ZAR21.48	-74.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.77 DKK25.12	$0.99 ZAR16.40	-73.6%
Average			-55.2%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.8% less for groceries

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$4.77 DKK31.84	$1.23 ZAR20.38	-74.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.64 DKK57.65	$4.39 ZAR72.52	-49.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.89 DKK52.65	$4.99 ZAR82.49	-36.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.89 DKK39.31	$3.14 ZAR51.87	-46.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.31 DKK42.09	$3.07 ZAR50.73	-51.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 DKK10.17	$0.85 ZAR14.01	-44.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 DKK9.25	$0.87 ZAR14.38	-37.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 DKK13.07	$0.77 ZAR12.74	-60.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59 DKK17.26	$0.95 ZAR15.73	-63.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 DKK7.12	$0.70 ZAR11.53	-34.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 DKK6.35	$0.68 ZAR11.31	-28.0%
Average			-49.8%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.7% less for transportation

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.58 DKK63.95	$5.86 ZAR96.77	-38.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$104.86 DKK699.71	$60.09 ZAR992.66	-42.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,184.55 DKK335K	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	-29.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.03 DKK126.95	$12.62 ZAR208.46	-33.7%
Average			-36.7%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.2% less for housing

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.42 DKK249.71	$39.98 ZAR660.43	+6.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,981.79 DKK13,223.50	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	-48.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,454.31 DKK9,703.88	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	-51.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.83 DKK926.35	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	-36.2%
Average			-46.2%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 53.8% less for childcare

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$977.91 DKK6,525.08	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	-73.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,580.66 DKK57,254.43	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-20.5%
Average			-53.8%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.99 DKK59.98	$3.00 ZAR49.63	-66.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.97 DKK46.54	$2.43 ZAR40.10	-65.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 DKK62.97	$3.61 ZAR59.56	-61.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.00 DKK427.06	$49.37 ZAR815.55	-22.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.22 DKK134.94	$9.01 ZAR148.90	-55.4%
Average			-54.8%

Copenhagen vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.6% less for clothing

	Copenhagen	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.66 DKK725.03	$55.49 ZAR916.75	-48.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.68 DKK358.19	$32.30 ZAR533.55	-39.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.48 DKK857.31	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	-6.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$199.12 DKK1,328.62	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	-47.0%
Average			-37.6%

Copenhagen 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

Compare further: Copenhagen vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Copenhagen is about 27 times smaller than Cape Town.

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