Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 23.4% cheaper than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 26.2% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 25.7% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 47.3% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 32.9% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.7% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 14.7% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.3% more for restaurants

	Maldives	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.74	$10.21 ZAR170.75	+70.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.88	$5.91 ZAR98.83	-38.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.12	$1.08 ZAR18.12	-33.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$0.84 ZAR13.97	+181.2%
Average			+14.3%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.2% less for groceries

	Maldives	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.57	$1.07 ZAR17.83	-35.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.75	$4.08 ZAR68.25	+17.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.52	$4.58 ZAR76.53	-33.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.89	$2.56 ZAR42.86	+37.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.72	$2.31 ZAR38.68	-16.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.83	$0.81 ZAR13.58	-54.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.40	$0.74 ZAR12.30	-46.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.56	$0.79 ZAR13.13	-50.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.83	$0.77 ZAR12.88	-36.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.63	$0.64 ZAR10.77	-14.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.63	$0.66 ZAR11.00	-4.4%
Average			-26.2%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.7% more for transportation

	Maldives	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.81	$5.49 ZAR91.77	+44.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.23	$65.15 ZAR1,089.26	+111.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR501K	$32,517.32 ZAR544K	+0.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.70	$7.35 ZAR122.86	-58.1%
Average			+25.7%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.3% less for housing

	Maldives	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	$38.93 ZAR650.96	-46.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	$421.37 ZAR7,045.19	-59.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,422.43	$369.24 ZAR6,173.65	-50.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	$105.57 ZAR1,765.07	+23.9%
Average			-47.3%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 32.9% more for childcare

	Maldives	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	$199.53 ZAR3,336.14	+7.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	$4,917.78 ZAR82,223.72	+63.7%
Average			+32.9%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.19	$2.25 ZAR37.63	-53.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.82	$2.25 ZAR37.69	-36.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.56	$3.16 ZAR52.84	-77.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	$31.59 ZAR528.18	-55.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.39	$7.32 ZAR122.35	-24.8%
Average			-48.7%

Maldives vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.7% more for clothing

	Maldives	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.41	$52.66 ZAR880.43	+33.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR766.77	$34.13 ZAR570.62	-31.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	$99.75 ZAR1,667.81	+14.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.17	$86.61 ZAR1,448.04	+65.0%
Average			+14.7%

Maldives 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Maldives vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 7.2 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 4,091 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Maldives to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

67 people born in Maldives live in South Africa.

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