Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 43.9% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 3.2 times more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 19.2% more in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 29.5% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 64.2% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 82.9% more in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 18.3% more in Johannesburg

The cost of restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and clothing in Johannesburg are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Johannesburg.

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Johannesburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Ho Chi Minh City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.2 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+524.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+56.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.20 ZAR19.75	+123.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+168.7%
Average			+218.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.2% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.25 ZAR20.56	+15.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-28.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-18.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+64.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$2.50 ZAR41.25	+52.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-31.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.83 ZAR13.71	+43.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+14.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.94 ZAR15.50	+63.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.76 ZAR12.57	+39.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+58.6%
Average			+19.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+62.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+680.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$8.05 ZAR132.81	+38.8%
Average			+113.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.5% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+243.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-14.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	+42.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+120.8%
Average			+29.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 64.2% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-44.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-76.8%
Average			-64.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 82.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.25 ZAR37.17	+118.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$2.44 ZAR40.27	+34.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$3.30 ZAR54.51	+168.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$36.60 ZAR603.73	+41.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$7.81 ZAR128.84	+125.5%
Average			+82.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.3% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+11.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+32.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+18.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+11.9%
Average			+18.3%

Ho Chi Minh City 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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