Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. HsinChu Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 0.3% cheaper than HsinChu.

Restaurants: pay 69.3% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 43.5% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 5.8% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 66.5% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 67.0% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.5% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 11.8% less in Cape Town

The cost of restaurants, housing, and transportation in Cape Town are more expensive than in HsinChu. Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Cape Town vs. HsinChu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of HsinChu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.3% more for restaurants

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.93 NT$125.60	$11.47 ZAR186.21	+191.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.24 NT$167.46	$5.16 ZAR83.79	-1.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 NT$27.21	$1.20 ZAR19.52	+41.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 NT$20.06	$0.92 ZAR14.90	+46.1%
Average			+69.3%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.5% less for groceries

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 NT$57.83	$1.14 ZAR18.43	-37.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.76 NT$215.87	$4.37 ZAR70.90	-35.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.62 NT$371.10	$4.50 ZAR72.97	-61.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.18 NT$101.48	$2.49 ZAR40.46	-21.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 NT$68.05	$2.43 ZAR39.49	+14.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.90 NT$60.53	$0.78 ZAR12.73	-58.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NT$34.81	$0.76 ZAR12.30	-30.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.83 NT$58.55	$0.74 ZAR12.03	-59.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 NT$53.80	$0.78 ZAR12.65	-53.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 NT$63.30	$0.60 ZAR9.67	-70.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.78 NT$56.97	$0.62 ZAR10.07	-65.2%
Average			-43.5%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.8% more for transportation

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.82 NT$121.85	$4.73 ZAR76.83	+24.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 NT$1,255.96	$28.68 ZAR465.51	-27.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,144.19 NT$1M	$21,796.50 ZAR354K	-45.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.90 NT$188.39	$10.15 ZAR164.79	+72.1%
Average			+5.8%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 66.5% more for housing

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.93 NT$732.29	$42.97 ZAR697.54	+87.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$550.55 NT$17,583.43	$838.02 ZAR13,602.29	+52.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$340.82 NT$10,884.98	$559.94 ZAR9,088.59	+64.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$56.76 NT$1,812.83	$91.96 ZAR1,492.57	+62.0%
Average			+66.5%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 67.0% less for childcare

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.03 NT$22,677.04	$228.00 ZAR3,700.83	-67.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,992.63 NT$479K	$5,090.62 ZAR82,628.47	-66.0%
Average			-67.0%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.5% less for entertainment and sports

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.29 NT$73.26	$2.87 ZAR46.55	+25.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.36 NT$107.28	$2.12 ZAR34.35	-37.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.92 NT$156.99	$3.15 ZAR51.21	-35.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.99 NT$1,883.94	$44.05 ZAR714.95	-25.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.49 NT$334.92	$6.88 ZAR111.72	-34.4%
Average			-21.5%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.8% less for clothing

	HsinChu	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.38 NT$2,695.08	$55.23 ZAR896.44	-34.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.28 NT$1,190.54	$33.91 ZAR550.39	-9.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.04 NT$3,035.23	$117.06 ZAR1,900.14	+23.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.16 NT$3,837.65	$88.13 ZAR1,430.56	-26.7%
Average			-11.8%

HsinChu vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: July 2026

Compare further: HsinChu vs. Cape Town

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Cape Town?

More cost comparisons

HsinChu vs.

Canberra

HsinChu vs.

Madrid

HsinChu vs.

Warsaw

HsinChu vs.

Kiev

HsinChu vs.

Paris

HsinChu vs.

Athens

HsinChu vs.

Ankara

HsinChu vs.

Quito

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Taiwan vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Taiwan and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for HsinChu

Add prices for Cape Town

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Cape Town or HsinChu. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.