Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Ipoh Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 65.6% more expensive than Ipoh.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 1.2% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 61.3% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 32.5% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.8% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 28.2% more in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Ipoh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.30 MYR13.49	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+263.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$6.01 ZAR99.11	+36.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 MYR2.95	$1.30 ZAR21.44	+80.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.99 ZAR16.37	+115.5%
Average			+128.3%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.2% less for groceries

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 MYR4.26	$1.23 ZAR20.34	+18.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.76 MYR27.59	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-35.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 MYR31.30	$4.99 ZAR82.36	-34.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 MYR9.31	$3.14 ZAR51.78	+37.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$3.07 ZAR50.65	+52.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MYR5.67	$0.85 ZAR13.99	-38.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.87 ZAR14.35	+6.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.77 ZAR12.72	-25.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.95 ZAR15.70	+33.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+18.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+10.2%
Average			-1.2%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 61.3% more for transportation

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.90 MYR7.75	$5.86 ZAR96.61	+208.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$60.09 ZAR991.09
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+14.6%
Average			+61.3%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+52.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$367.05 MYR1,498.75	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+177.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$244.70 MYR999.17	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+188.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	+86.1%
Average			+157.6%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 32.5% less for childcare

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-12.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	-48.0%
Average			-32.5%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.00 ZAR49.55	-31.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.81 MYR11.49	$2.43 ZAR40.04	-13.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.61 ZAR59.47	-18.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.47 MYR99.92	$49.37 ZAR814.26	+101.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.43 MYR13.99	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+163.1%
Average			+33.8%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.2% more for clothing

	Ipoh	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.18 MYR249.79	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-9.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.71 MYR149.88	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-12.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.18 MYR249.79	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+95.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$61.18 MYR249.79	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	+72.6%
Average			+28.2%

Ipoh vs. Cape Town - 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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