Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cape Town vs. Lisbon Cost of Living Summary
Cape Town is 26.7% cheaper than Lisbon.
Cape Town vs. Lisbon Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cape Town instead of Lisbon, you would:
pay 38.1% less for restaurants
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.80
€14.95
|
$12.02
ZAR198.22
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.20
€9.97
|
$6.01
ZAR99.11
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
€2.05
|
$1.30
ZAR21.44
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.70
€1.51
|
$0.99
ZAR16.37
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.2% less for groceries
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.87
€1.67
|
$1.23
ZAR20.34
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.43
€5.72
|
$4.39
ZAR72.41
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.34
€3.87
|
$4.99
ZAR82.36
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.94
€3.51
|
$3.14
ZAR51.78
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.60
€3.21
|
$3.07
ZAR50.65
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.01
€0.90
|
$0.85
ZAR13.99
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.78
€0.69
|
$0.87
ZAR14.35
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.83
€0.74
|
$0.77
ZAR12.72
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.14
€1.01
|
$0.95
ZAR15.70
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.82
€0.73
|
$0.70
ZAR11.51
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.91
€0.81
|
$0.68
ZAR11.29
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries
pay 3.7% less for transportation
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.43
€7.50
|
$5.86
ZAR96.61
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$44.79
€39.86
|
$60.09
ZAR991.09
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,640.22
€29,941.00
|
$35,391.94
ZAR584K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$12.52
€11.14
|
$12.62
ZAR208.13
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation
pay 35.1% less for housing
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$32.72
€29.12
|
$39.98
ZAR659.39
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,595.62
€1,420.16
|
$1,017.49
ZAR16,782.53
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,189.97
€1,059.12
|
$706.64
ZAR11,655.27
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$126.43
€112.53
|
$88.53
ZAR1,460.27
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing
pay 60.5% less for childcare
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$678.84
€604.19
|
$262.39
ZAR4,327.78
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,935.72
€15,073.40
|
$6,820.14
ZAR112K
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare
pay 12.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.36
€2.99
|
$3.00
ZAR49.55
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.03
€2.69
|
$2.43
ZAR40.04
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.72
€5.98
|
$3.61
ZAR59.47
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$46.25
€41.16
|
$49.37
ZAR814.26
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$9.66
€8.60
|
$9.01
ZAR148.66
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 20.7% less for clothing
|
Lisbon
|
Cape Town
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$102.78
€91.47
|
$55.49
ZAR915.30
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$45.72
€40.69
|
$32.30
ZAR532.71
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.13
€88.23
|
$119.84
ZAR1,976.68
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$123.02
€109.49
|
$105.58
ZAR1,741.49
|
|
Lisbon vs. Cape Town - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Lisbon vs. Cape Town
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