Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 9.3% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 48.9% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 19.2% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 6.4% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 27.9% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.9% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 15.1% less in Pretoria

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

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

Pretoria vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.9% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+84.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$5.41 ZAR89.20	+10.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+31.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+84.8%
Average			+48.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.2% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+0.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-40.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-44.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$2.47 ZAR40.74	-2.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-48.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-9.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-23.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+1.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-16.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-12.8%
Average			-19.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+78.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+1351.2%
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	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-40.5%
Average			+116.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.4% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+40.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-26.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+9.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+142.8%
Average			+6.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.9% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-12.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-40.4%
Average			-27.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.55 ZAR42.12	-42.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-27.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-26.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-35.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+43.7%
Average			-19.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.1% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$53.03 ZAR874.71	-25.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-23.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+6.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	-13.7%
Average			-15.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - 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: Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Pretoria?

More cost comparisons

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Toronto

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Quito

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Bangkok

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Cairo

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Warsaw

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Madrid

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Sydney

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Dublin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Kuala Lumpur

Add prices for Pretoria

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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