Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

South Africa

Sandton vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 8.4% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 64.7% more in Sandton
Groceries: pay 9.3% less in Sandton
Transportation: pay 16.6% more in Sandton
Housing: pay 19.5% more in Sandton
Childcare: pay 30.8% less in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.9% less in Sandton
Clothing: pay 2.0% less in Sandton

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

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Sandton vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.7% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$10.82 ZAR178.40	+121.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$5.71 ZAR94.15	+16.6%
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			+64.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.3% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+0.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-38.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-44.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+5.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-39.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.82 ZAR13.49	-0.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-20.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.83 ZAR13.71	+16.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.70 ZAR11.46	+17.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.79 ZAR13.04	+27.2%
Average			-9.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.6% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+78.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	??
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	$7.51 ZAR123.89	-31.8%
Average			+16.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.5% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
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	$540.64 ZAR8,917.37	-12.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$440.65 ZAR7,268.03	+18.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$126.36 ZAR2,084.21	+165.7%
Average			+19.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 30.8% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
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	$7,210.58 ZAR119K	-45.1%
Average			-30.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
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	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-26.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$36.05 ZAR594.66	-26.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+43.7%
Average			-17.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sandton
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	$96.14 ZAR1,585.75	+11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-6.2%
Average			-2.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sandton - 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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