Cost of living comparison

Uganda

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Kampala Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 61.5% more expensive than Kampala.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 23.8% more in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 56.7% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 1.0% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.6% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in Pretoria

The cost of clothing, transportation, restaurants, housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Pretoria are more expensive than in Kampala. Notably, clothing, transportation, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Pretoria.

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Pretoria vs. Kampala Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Kampala	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.45 UGX10,151	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+267.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.36 UGX30,452	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-26.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 UGX1,523	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+187.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 UGX1,107	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+218.0%
Average			+101.2%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% more for groceries

	Kampala	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 UGX3,747	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+21.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.18 UGX9,009	$4.18 ZAR68.94	+91.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.90 UGX11,976	$4.45 ZAR73.36	+53.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.58 UGX6,530	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+56.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 UGX8,472	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+9.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.95 UGX3,939	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-16.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 UGX2,353	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+30.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 UGX2,430	$0.79 ZAR13.11	+35.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 UGX2,225	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+34.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-10.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-2.7%
Average			+23.8%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Kampala	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.31 UGX21,961	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+8.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.68 UGX177K	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+316.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,361.98 UGX30M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+380.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.94 UGX12,181	$6.55 ZAR108.03	+122.4%
Average			+154.8%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.7% more for housing

	Kampala	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 UGX143K	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+6.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$482.64 UGX2M	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-5.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$167.36 UGX692K	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+142.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.08 UGX220K	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+117.6%
Average			+56.7%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 1.0% less for childcare

	Kampala	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$251.43 UGX1M	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+3.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,279.19 UGX34M	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-5.5%
Average			-1.0%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Kampala	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.23 UGX5,075	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+108.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 UGX10,471	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-11.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.45 UGX10,151	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+32.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.21 UGX228K	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-43.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.36 UGX30,452	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-2.1%
Average			+0.6%

Kampala vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Kampala	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.80 UGX57,098	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+284.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$12.88 UGX53,292	$32.00 ZAR527.89	+148.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$31.90 UGX132K	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+187.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$43.25 UGX179K	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+91.6%
Average			+169.4%

Kampala 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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