Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 12.5% cheaper than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.6% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 35.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 12.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 9.3% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 54.4% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 22.1% more in South Africa

The cost of restaurants, clothing, and transportation in South Africa are more expensive than in Japan. Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in South Africa.

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

South Africa vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Japan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.6% more for restaurants

	Japan	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,068	$10.21 ZAR168.71	+51.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥807	$5.91 ZAR97.65	+16.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥180	$1.08 ZAR17.90	-4.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥120	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+10.3%
Average			+27.6%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.4% less for groceries

	Japan	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥242	$1.07 ZAR17.62	-30.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥879	$4.08 ZAR67.44	-26.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥881	$4.58 ZAR75.61	-17.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥318	$2.56 ZAR42.35	+27.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥451	$2.31 ZAR38.22	-18.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥342	$0.81 ZAR13.42	-62.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥171	$0.74 ZAR12.15	-32.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥244	$0.79 ZAR12.97	-49.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥304	$0.77 ZAR12.73	-59.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$0.64 ZAR10.64	-41.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.66 ZAR10.87	-38.8%
Average			-35.4%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.6% more for transportation

	Japan	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥650	$5.49 ZAR90.67	+33.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥10,004	$65.15 ZAR1,076.25	+3.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$32,517.32 ZAR537K	+54.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,901	$7.35 ZAR121.39	-70.2%
Average			+12.6%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.3% less for housing

	Japan	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,309	$38.93 ZAR643.18	+16.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,515	$421.37 ZAR6,961.07	-22.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥57,105	$369.24 ZAR6,099.94	+2.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,928	$105.57 ZAR1,743.99	-6.8%
Average			-9.3%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 54.4% less for childcare

	Japan	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥66,006	$199.53 ZAR3,296.31	-52.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,241.91	-56.5%
Average			-54.4%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Japan	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥407	$2.25 ZAR37.19	-12.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥484	$2.25 ZAR37.24	-26.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥606	$3.16 ZAR52.21	-17.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,438	$31.59 ZAR521.88	-40.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,856	$7.32 ZAR120.89	-37.6%
Average			-29.9%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.1% more for clothing

	Japan	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,332	$52.66 ZAR869.92	+13.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,959	$34.13 ZAR563.81	+8.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,410	$99.75 ZAR1,647.89	+67.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,827	$86.61 ZAR1,430.75	+6.9%
Average			+22.1%

Japan vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Japan vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 13.2 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 3.2 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Japan to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

2,106 people born in Japan live in South Africa.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Tokyo vs Cape Town

More cost comparisons

Japan vs.

Australia

Japan vs.

United Kingdom

Japan vs.

South Korea

Japan vs.

Canada

Japan vs.

California

Japan vs.

Taiwan

Japan vs.

India

Japan vs.

Singapore

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Tokyo vs. Pretoria

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 Japan

Add prices for South Africa

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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