Cost of living comparison

Macedonia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Macedonia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 30.0% more expensive than Macedonia overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.9% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 23.2% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 24.7% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 62.0% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 8.7% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.1% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 4.6% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Macedonia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.9% more for restaurants

	Macedonia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.53 MKD358.14	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+56.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.60 MKD306.88	$5.91 ZAR97.49	+5.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MKD88.84	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-33.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 MKD63.63	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-28.0%
Average			+15.9%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.2% more for groceries

	Macedonia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MKD38.75	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+50.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.67 MKD201.39	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+11.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.67 MKD256.29	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-2.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 MKD123.77	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+13.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.91 MKD159.35	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-20.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.50 MKD27.49	$0.81 ZAR13.40	+62.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 MKD34.55	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+16.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 MKD31.16	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+38.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 MKD43.84	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-3.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 MKD21.80	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+62.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 MKD22.03	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+63.8%
Average			+23.2%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% more for transportation

	Macedonia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.60 MKD306.85	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-1.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.04 MKD1,537.62	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+132.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,276.49 MKD2M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-2.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.79 MKD317.47	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+26.9%
Average			+24.7%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.0% more for housing

	Macedonia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 MKD980.35	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+117.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$264.34 MKD14,495.35	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$198.42 MKD10,880.86	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+86.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.81 MKD5,473.34	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+5.8%
Average			+62.0%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 8.7% less for childcare

	Macedonia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$287.04 MKD15,740.45	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-30.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,102.29 MKD225K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	+19.9%
Average			-8.7%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Macedonia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.05 MKD112.36	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+9.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.69 MKD92.77	$2.25 ZAR37.18	+33.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.13 MKD171.51	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+1.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.36 MKD1,609.84	$31.59 ZAR521.05	+7.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.90 MKD323.66	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+24.0%
Average			+16.1%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.6% less for clothing

	Macedonia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.13 MKD3,351.93	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-13.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.04 MKD1,921.63	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-2.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.54 MKD4,855.41	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+12.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.76 MKD5,415.92	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-12.3%
Average			-4.6%

Macedonia vs. South Africa - 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

Compare further: Macedonia vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Macedonia is about 47 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Macedonia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

143 people born in Macedonia live in South Africa.

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