Cost of living comparison

Sweden

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Karlstad Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 21.1% cheaper than Karlstad.

Restaurants: pay 31.4% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 34.7% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 6.3% less in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 19.8% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 92.3% more in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.3% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 8.8% less in Johannesburg

Expenses including entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, housing, clothing, and transportation are lower in Johannesburg. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Johannesburg.

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Johannesburg vs. Karlstad Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.4% less for restaurants

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.00 SEK148.65	$12.02 ZAR198.22	-19.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00 SEK99.10	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-27.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 SEK24.77	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-52.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.17 SEK21.47	$0.89 ZAR14.70	-58.9%
Average			-31.4%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.7% less for groceries

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$2.87 SEK28.49	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-56.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.02 SEK49.80	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-14.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.62 SEK55.75	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-11.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.47 SEK44.31	$2.67 ZAR44.10	-40.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.40 SEK63.47	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-60.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 SEK13.02	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-29.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18 SEK11.68	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-29.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.38 SEK13.69	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-40.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.38 SEK23.60	$0.94 ZAR15.50	-60.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 SEK8.38	$0.76 ZAR12.57	-9.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.76 SEK7.48	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+10.8%
Average			-34.7%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.3% less for transportation

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.64 SEK65.80	$5.77 ZAR95.18	-13.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$79.88 SEK791.80	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+12.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,980.57 SEK327K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+7.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.80 SEK156.58	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-49.0%
Average			-6.3%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.8% less for housing

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$44.12 SEK437.36	$35.90 ZAR592.10	-18.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$849.76 SEK8,423.39	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$574.84 SEK5,698.17	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	-26.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$76.74 SEK760.73	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+128.0%
Average			-19.8%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 92.3% more for childcare

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$126.21 SEK1,251.12	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	+92.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79
Average			+92.3%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.95 SEK78.78	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-71.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.72 SEK46.82	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-48.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.10 SEK70.36	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-53.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.46 SEK450.59	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-19.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.00 SEK138.75	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-44.2%
Average			-48.3%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.8% less for clothing

	Karlstad	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$104.94 SEK1,040.29	$57.63 ZAR950.55	-45.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.89 SEK395.40	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+14.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.88 SEK742.25	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+44.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$139.86 SEK1,386.39	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	-24.3%
Average			-8.8%

Karlstad vs. Johannesburg - 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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