Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Eritrea Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 27.7% more expensive than Eritrea overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.8% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 23.8% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 14.0% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 87.5% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 3.9 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9 times more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 57.7% less in South Africa

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, and transportation in South Africa are more expensive than in Eritrea. Expenses including clothing, restaurants, and groceries are lower in South Africa. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in South Africa.

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South Africa vs. Eritrea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.8% less for restaurants

	Eritrea	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$10.21 ZAR168.45	-51.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-1.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+8.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-16.5%
Average			-28.8%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% less for groceries

	Eritrea	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.07 ZAR17.59
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+172.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-24.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-41.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-81.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-85.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+26.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-13.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+45.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-21.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+55.4%
Average			-23.8%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.0% more for transportation

	Eritrea	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-42.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+714.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-51.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$7.35 ZAR121.20
Average			+14.0%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.5% more for housing

	Eritrea	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-80.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+68.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+84.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+452.2%
Average			+87.5%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 3.9 times more for childcare

	Eritrea	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	+698.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	+89.1%
Average			+288.5%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Eritrea	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+275.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$2.25 ZAR37.18	+181.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.16 ZAR52.13
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$31.59 ZAR521.05	+17.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+509.8%
Average			+191.5%

Eritrea vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.7% less for clothing

	Eritrea	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-61.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-71.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	-50.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-42.3%
Average			-57.7%

Eritrea 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: Eritrea vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 5.4 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Eritrea is about 10 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Eritrea to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

688 people born in Eritrea live in South Africa.

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