Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 31.6% more expensive than Lusaka.

Restaurants: pay 40.3% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 28.6% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 59.4% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 5.8% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.1% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 82.0% more in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Lusaka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.3% more for restaurants

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+63.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$5.41 ZAR89.20	+7.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 ZMW15.03	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+40.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZMW9.39	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+80.6%
Average			+40.3%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.6% less for groceries

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ZMW23.92	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-8.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-18.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 ZMW129.88	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-31.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 ZMW38.66	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+27.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-22.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 ZMW30.42	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-48.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-32.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-51.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$0.72 ZAR11.92	+3.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-57.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-34.6%
Average			-28.6%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZMW115.01	$5.75 ZAR94.81	-0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+254.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+369.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-55.1%
Average			+101.1%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.4% more for housing

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$36.83 ZAR607.50	-33.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	+18.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+125.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+87.8%
Average			+59.4%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 5.8% less for childcare

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+88.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-53.0%
Average			-5.8%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+103.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-20.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+7.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-42.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+19.5%
Average			+1.1%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 82.0% more for clothing

	Lusaka	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+127.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$32.00 ZAR527.89	+107.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+103.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	+14.3%
Average			+82.0%

Lusaka vs. Pretoria - 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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