Cost of living comparison

Pakistan

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Islamabad Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 80.0% more expensive than Islamabad.

Restaurants: pay 93.6% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 91.2% more in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 54.1% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.2% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 39.7% more in Pretoria

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Pretoria are more expensive than in Islamabad. Notably, childcare, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Pretoria.

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Pretoria vs. Islamabad Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 93.6% more for restaurants

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.61 PKR1,001.00	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+149.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 PKR1,501.50	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-0.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 PKR94.38	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+211.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.22 PKR60.62	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+289.3%
Average			+93.6%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.2% more for groceries

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$0.75 PKR208.08	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+47.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.07 PKR851.66	$4.18 ZAR68.94	+36.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.63 PKR1,006.51	$4.45 ZAR73.36	+22.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.24 PKR343.64	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+99.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 PKR390.48	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+58.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.59 PKR163.19	$0.79 ZAR13.10	+35.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.38 PKR106.19	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+93.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.47 PKR131.67	$0.79 ZAR13.11	+67.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 PKR68.12	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+194.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.13 PKR35.52	$0.50 ZAR8.18	+287.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.17 PKR46.29	$0.54 ZAR8.93	+224.4%
Average			+91.2%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.1% more for transportation

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.11 PKR1,415.96	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+12.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.66 PKR6,006.00	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+719.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$54,159.34 PKR15M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-34.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.04 PKR1,951.95	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-7.0%
Average			+54.1%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.07 PKR4,732.00	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+115.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$273.02 PKR75,692.28	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	+66.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$139.79 PKR38,755.38	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+189.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$77.95 PKR21,609.82	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+48.2%
Average			+106.8%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$74.62 PKR20,687.33	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+249.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,015.34 PKR1M	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	+56.0%
Average			+133.5%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.61 PKR1,001.00	$2.55 ZAR42.12	-29.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.65 PKR734.15	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.30 PKR637.64	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+41.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.23 PKR7,826.00	$31.49 ZAR519.46	+11.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.33 PKR1,201.20	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+66.4%
Average			+9.2%

Islamabad vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.7% more for clothing

	Islamabad	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.82 PKR6,881.88	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+113.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.87 PKR9,666.47	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-8.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.43 PKR26,735.16	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	-4.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.62 PKR11,261.25	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+104.0%
Average			+39.7%

Islamabad 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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