Cost of living comparison

Denmark

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Copenhagen Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 54.1% cheaper than Copenhagen.

Restaurants: pay 53.2% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 49.7% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 33.4% less in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 63.6% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 60.2% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.1% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 32.9% less in Johannesburg

Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, restaurants, groceries, and transportation are lower in Johannesburg.

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Johannesburg vs. Copenhagen Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Copenhagen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.2% less for restaurants

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.97 DKK139.50	$12.02 ZAR198.22	-42.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.48 DKK89.68	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-46.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.10 DKK33.90	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-76.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.77 DKK25.04	$0.89 ZAR14.70	-76.3%
Average			-53.2%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.7% less for groceries

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$4.77 DKK31.74	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-73.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.64 DKK57.47	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-50.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.89 DKK52.48	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-36.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.89 DKK39.19	$2.67 ZAR44.10	-54.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.31 DKK41.95	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-60.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 DKK10.13	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-38.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 DKK9.22	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-40.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 DKK13.02	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-57.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59 DKK17.20	$0.94 ZAR15.50	-63.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 DKK7.10	$0.76 ZAR12.57	-28.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 DKK6.33	$0.84 ZAR13.80	-12.0%
Average			-49.7%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.4% less for transportation

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.58 DKK63.75	$5.77 ZAR95.18	-39.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$104.86 DKK697.48	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-14.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,184.55 DKK334K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-29.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.03 DKK126.54	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-57.7%
Average			-33.4%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 63.6% less for housing

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.42 DKK248.91	$35.90 ZAR592.10	-4.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,981.79 DKK13,181.29	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-74.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,454.31 DKK9,672.90	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	-70.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.83 DKK923.39	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+26.0%
Average			-63.6%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 60.2% less for childcare

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$977.91 DKK6,504.25	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-75.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,580.66 DKK57,071.67	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-36.3%
Average			-60.2%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.99 DKK59.78	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-74.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.97 DKK46.39	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-65.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 DKK62.77	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-65.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.00 DKK425.70	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-42.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.22 DKK134.51	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-61.4%
Average			-62.1%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.9% less for clothing

	Copenhagen	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.66 DKK722.72	$57.63 ZAR950.55	-47.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.68 DKK357.04	$45.77 ZAR754.99	-14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.48 DKK854.58	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	-15.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$199.12 DKK1,324.38	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	-46.8%
Average			-32.9%

Copenhagen vs. Johannesburg - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Copenhagen is about 18 times smaller than Johannesburg.

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