Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 21.1% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 52.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 1.6% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 44.4% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 1.2% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.0% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 18.1% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.3% more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.26 ETB655.54	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+119.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-21.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB93.51	$1.03 ZAR17.65	+69.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 ETB87.20	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+41.7%
Average			+52.3%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.6% less for groceries

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 ETB193.73	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-20.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 ETB667.36	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-10.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.42 ETB834.53	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-19.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 ETB351.02	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+2.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.76 ETB886.79	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-63.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.08 ETB473.48	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-76.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.43 ETB66.40	$0.65 ZAR11.16	+51.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 ETB162.78	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-35.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 ETB62.30	$0.71 ZAR12.14	+75.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 ETB42.45	$0.59 ZAR10.02	+112.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 ETB139.43	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-33.8%
Average			-1.6%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.81 ETB740.52	$4.92 ZAR84.25	+2.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+368.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-61.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.62 ETB556.29	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+158.3%
Average			+116.9%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.4% less for housing

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	$39.36 ZAR673.48	-69.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-50.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	-29.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	-27.7%
Average			-44.4%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 1.2% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	+84.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-86.9%
Average			-1.2%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.90 ETB138.50	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+142.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.09 ETB167.35	$2.05 ZAR35.06	+88.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.10 ETB784.81	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-41.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-51.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB577.06	$6.85 ZAR117.19	+82.6%
Average			+44.0%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.1% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	$50.74 ZAR868.31	+12.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-56.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	+0.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-28.9%
Average			-18.1%

Ethiopia vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

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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: December 2025

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