Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Sweden

Stockholm vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Stockholm is 81.9% more expensive than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 80.9% more in Stockholm
Groceries: pay 66.2% more in Stockholm
Transportation: pay 16.4% more in Stockholm
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Stockholm
Childcare: pay 39.5% more in Stockholm
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Stockholm
Clothing: pay 52.6% more in Stockholm

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, clothing, and childcare in Stockholm are more expensive than in Johannesburg. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Stockholm.

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

Stockholm vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Stockholm instead of Johannesburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 80.9% more for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.22	$17.99 SEK178.38	+49.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.21 ZAR118.93	$11.90 SEK117.93	+65.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 ZAR19.75	$3.66 SEK36.32	+206.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ZAR14.70	$3.09 SEK30.60	+246.4%
Average			+80.9%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 66.2% more for groceries

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Bread 1 loaf	$1.25 ZAR20.56	$3.97 SEK39.36	+218.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.31 ZAR71.09	$6.37 SEK63.11	+47.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR82.53	$6.67 SEK66.09	+33.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.67 ZAR44.10	$5.11 SEK50.68	+91.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.50 ZAR41.25	$5.83 SEK57.75	+133.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 ZAR15.38	$1.60 SEK15.85	+71.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.71	$1.26 SEK12.50	+51.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.63	$1.44 SEK14.23	+73.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 ZAR15.50	$2.02 SEK20.03	+115.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.57	$0.79 SEK7.78	+3.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 ZAR13.80	$0.80 SEK7.94	-4.3%
Average			+66.2%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.4% more for transportation

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZAR95.18	$6.72 SEK66.59	+16.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	$105.97 SEK1,050.45	+17.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$32,980.57 SEK327K	-6.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.05 ZAR132.81	$17.85 SEK176.99	+121.7%
Average			+16.4%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.90 ZAR592.10	$39.70 SEK393.49	+10.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	$1,674.52 SEK16,599.03	+235.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	$1,080.50 SEK10,710.63	+154.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	$190.15 SEK1,884.88	+8.7%
Average			+139.8%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 39.5% more for childcare

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	$157.47 SEK1,560.91	-35.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	$16,395.31 SEK163K	+199.8%
Average			+39.5%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.17	$7.95 SEK78.78	+252.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.44 ZAR40.27	$5.05 SEK50.04	+106.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.30 ZAR54.51	$8.70 SEK86.22	+163.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.60 ZAR603.73	$46.98 SEK465.67	+28.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.81 ZAR128.84	$18.99 SEK188.29	+143.2%
Average			+117.9%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 52.6% more for clothing

	Johannesburg	Stockholm
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.63 ZAR950.55	$111.49 SEK1,105.16	+93.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.77 ZAR754.99	$58.75 SEK582.33	+28.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	$135.62 SEK1,344.36	+25.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	$184.97 SEK1,833.59	+74.7%
Average			+52.6%

Johannesburg vs. Stockholm - 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: Johannesburg vs. Stockholm

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Stockholm?

Size Comparison · See true size

Johannesburg is about 8 times bigger than Stockholm.

More cost comparisons

Johannesburg vs.

Athens

Johannesburg vs.

Rome

Johannesburg vs.

Cairo

Johannesburg vs.

London

Johannesburg vs.

Reykjavik

Johannesburg vs.

Vienna

Johannesburg vs.

Madrid

Johannesburg vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Johannesburg

Add prices for Stockholm

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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