Cost of living comparison

Zimbabwe

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Harare Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 14.4% more expensive than Harare.

Restaurants: pay 0.1% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 15.4% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 26.9% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 33.7% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 25.9% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.1% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Harare Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Harare, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.1% more for restaurants

	Harare	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-9.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.75 ZWL1,851.50	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-5.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.96 ZWL308.58	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+10.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZWL151.05	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+81.5%
Average			+0.1%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.4% less for groceries

	Harare	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZWL322.00	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+10.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.73 ZWL1,845.30	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-27.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.73 ZWL1,843.59	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-22.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.93 ZWL622.53	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+27.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 ZWL791.38	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-9.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 ZWL439.66	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-41.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZWL243.55	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-2.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 ZWL296.54	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-13.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZWL226.23	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+2.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 ZWL251.62	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-36.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 ZWL257.47	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-32.3%
Average			-15.4%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.9% more for transportation

	Harare	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.91 ZWL2,223.82	$5.75 ZAR94.81	-16.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.00 ZWL19,320.00	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+195.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,000.00 ZWL7M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+60.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.00 ZWL6,440.00	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-67.3%
Average			+26.9%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.7% more for housing

	Harare	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.99 ZWL22,213.67	$36.83 ZAR607.50	-46.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$390.00 ZWL126K	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	+16.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$316.60 ZWL102K	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+28.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 ZWL12,644.39	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+194.1%
Average			+33.7%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 25.9% less for childcare

	Harare	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$433.79 ZWL140K	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-39.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,555.56 ZWL3M	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-8.6%
Average			-25.9%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Harare	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.25 ZWL402.50	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+104.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.00 ZWL966.00	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-24.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 ZWL644.00	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+62.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.92 ZWL15,429.17	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-34.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-27.9%
Average			-5.1%

Harare vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Harare	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.22 ZWL7,477.56	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+128.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.15 ZWL6,809.04	$32.00 ZAR527.89	+51.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$38.68 ZWL12,453.92	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+137.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.37 ZWL12,998.47	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+105.3%
Average			+102.6%

Harare vs. Pretoria - 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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See the cost of living in Zimbabwe vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Zimbabwe and South Africa.

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