Cost of living comparison

Ghana

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Ghana Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 24.9% more expensive than Ghana overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.5% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 22.8% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 87.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 52.0% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 45.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.4% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.5 times more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Ghana Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.5% more for restaurants

	Ghana	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.07 GHS71.01	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+68.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.34 GHS120.88	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-42.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 GHS12.06	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+5.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 GHS3.89	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+151.1%
Average			+14.5%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.8% less for groceries

	Ghana	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 GHS18.73	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-33.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.61 GHS42.18	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+13.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.84 GHS126.83	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-57.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 GHS28.24	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+6.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.24 GHS26.16	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+3.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 GHS13.93	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-31.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 GHS7.74	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+11.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 GHS8.40	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+9.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 GHS16.05	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-43.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.18 GHS13.76	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-45.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 GHS11.85	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-35.1%
Average			-22.8%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 87.6% more for transportation

	Ghana	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.51 GHS52.77	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+21.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.70 GHS394.11	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+93.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,000.00 GHS93,560.46	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+306.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.45 GHS110.48	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-22.2%
Average			+87.6%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.0% more for housing

	Ghana	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.08 GHS644.17	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-29.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$402.26 GHS4,704.48	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+4.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$173.60 GHS2,030.21	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+112.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$48.88 GHS571.61	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+116.0%
Average			+52.0%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 45.0% less for childcare

	Ghana	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$364.68 GHS4,264.91	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-45.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,885.07 GHS104K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-44.7%
Average			-45.0%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Ghana	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.98 GHS23.19	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+13.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 GHS41.02	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-35.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.55 GHS18.14	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+103.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.32 GHS483.24	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-23.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 GHS131.92	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-35.1%
Average			-15.4%

Ghana vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5 times more for clothing

	Ghana	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.69 GHS160.11	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+284.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.35 GHS202.88	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+96.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$38.24 GHS447.24	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+160.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$45.55 GHS532.67	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+90.1%
Average			+147.5%

Ghana 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: Ghana vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 10.9 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Ghana is about 5 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Ghana to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

8,034 people born in Ghana live in South Africa.

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