Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Lesotho Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 64.9% more expensive than Lesotho overall.

Restaurants: pay 18.9% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 4.8% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 43.1% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 13.7% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Lesotho Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Lesotho, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.9% less for restaurants

	Lesotho	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.52 LSL196.78	$9.33 ZAR159.73	-19.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.07 LSL137.75	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-36.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.33 LSL22.63	$1.03 ZAR17.65	-22.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LSL13.45	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+2.0%
Average			-18.9%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.8% less for groceries

	Lesotho	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 LSL12.60	$1.00 ZAR17.16	+35.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.65 LSL62.39	$3.88 ZAR66.47	+6.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.99 LSL68.18	$4.37 ZAR74.79	+9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.44 LSL24.60	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+62.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 LSL45.78	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-20.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.82 LSL13.95	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-10.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 LSL16.63	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-33.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 LSL20.09	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-41.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 LSL17.86	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-32.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 LSL11.61	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-13.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 LSL11.94	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-14.2%
Average			-4.8%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.1% more for transportation

	Lesotho	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 LSL78.13	$4.92 ZAR84.25	+7.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.81 LSL491.95	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+95.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,166.39 LSL344,363.01	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	+6.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.70 LSL97.41	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+63.7%
Average			+43.1%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Lesotho	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.68 LSL557.96	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+20.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$145.97 LSL2,492.53	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	+176.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$73.94 LSL1,262.66	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+389.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04
Average			+195.5%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	Lesotho	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$49.99 LSL853.69	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	+247.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,133.16 LSL19,349.92	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	+249.7%
Average			+248.3%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Lesotho	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.02 LSL34.44	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+8.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.82 LSL31.16	$2.05 ZAR35.06	+12.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.90 LSL83.63	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-39.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.09 LSL377.16	$30.26 ZAR517.83	+37.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.85 ZAR117.19
Average			+4.5%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.7% less for clothing

	Lesotho	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.17 LSL754.32	$50.74 ZAR868.31	+14.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.33 LSL688.73	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-18.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.79 LSL1,738.21	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	-7.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.05 LSL2,459.74	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-43.2%
Average			-13.7%

Lesotho vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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