Cost of living comparison

Hong Kong

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Hong Kong Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 58.4% cheaper than Hong Kong overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 53.5% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 45.3% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 73.5% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 80.6% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.3% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 12.8% less in South Africa

Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing are lower in South Africa.

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South Africa vs. Hong Kong Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Hong Kong, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3% more for restaurants

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.28 HK$65.00	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+23.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.37 HK$50.00	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-7.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 HK$10.24	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-16.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 HK$8.59	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-23.7%
Average			+2.3%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.5% less for groceries

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.37 HK$18.59	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-55.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.52 HK$98.23	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-67.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.07 HK$86.91	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-58.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.47 HK$27.20	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-26.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.96 HK$31.06	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-41.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.87 HK$14.70	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-56.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.25 HK$9.78	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-41.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.09 HK$16.41	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-62.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.80 HK$14.11	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-57.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 HK$11.25	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-55.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.44 HK$11.31	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-54.4%
Average			-53.5%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.3% less for transportation

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$15.51 HK$121.73	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-64.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$89.19 HK$700.01	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	-27.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,597.12 HK$350K	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-27.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.40 HK$113.00	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-49.0%
Average			-45.3%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 73.5% less for housing

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.52 HK$168.90	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+80.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,207.41 HK$17,324.05	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-80.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,690.00 HK$13,263.34	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-78.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$190.59 HK$1,495.82	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-44.6%
Average			-73.5%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 80.6% less for childcare

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,171.99 HK$9,197.98	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-83.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,295.74 HK$175K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-77.9%
Average			-80.6%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.65 HK$60.00	$2.25 ZAR37.13	-70.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.04 HK$39.56	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-55.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.38 HK$105.00	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-76.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$93.07 HK$730.44	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-66.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.70 HK$107.50	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-46.6%
Average			-62.3%

Hong Kong vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.8% less for clothing

	Hong Kong	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.63 HK$530.78	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-22.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.11 HK$322.62	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-17.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.54 HK$632.08	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+23.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.85 HK$940.64	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-27.7%
Average			-12.8%

Hong Kong 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: Hong Kong vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics

Be 11.6 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Hong Kong is about 1,100 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Hong Kong to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

1,943 people born in Hong Kong live in South Africa.

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