Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 19.2% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 90.6% more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 3.9% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 86.4% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 19.7% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 41.9% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.8% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 5.1% more in Johannesburg

The cost of restaurants, transportation, housing, and clothing in Johannesburg are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Johannesburg. Notably, restaurants and transportation are significantly more expensive in Johannesburg.

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Johannesburg vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 90.6% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+145.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+47.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$1.20 ZAR19.75	+48.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+93.5%
Average			+90.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.9% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.25 ZAR20.56	+13.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-38.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-37.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+5.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$2.50 ZAR41.25	+23.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-39.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.83 ZAR13.71	+1.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-20.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.94 ZAR15.50	+32.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.76 ZAR12.57	+28.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+34.7%
Average			-3.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 86.4% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+79.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+636.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-26.9%
Average			+86.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.7% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+36.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-19.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	+14.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+267.9%
Average			+19.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 41.9% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-18.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-58.3%
Average			-41.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-48.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-21.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-25.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-25.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$7.81 ZAR128.84	+55.7%
Average			-15.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.1% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$57.63 ZAR950.55	-19.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+9.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+25.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+10.2%
Average			+5.1%

Kuala Lumpur 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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Kuala Lumpur is about 7 times smaller than Johannesburg.

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