Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Manila Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 32.3% more expensive than Manila.

Restaurants: pay 54.1% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 24.6% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 88.8% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 59.0% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 2.8% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.2% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 37.1% more in Cape Town

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

Cape Town vs. Manila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Manila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.1% more for restaurants

	Manila	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.02 ₱355.03	$11.47 ZAR194.18	+90.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.30 ₱253.60	$5.16 ZAR87.38	+20.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 ₱57.27	$1.20 ZAR20.35	+23.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ₱29.69	$0.92 ZAR15.53	+82.2%
Average			+54.1%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.6% less for groceries

	Manila	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.33 ₱78.64	$1.14 ZAR19.21	-14.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.28 ₱252.12	$4.37 ZAR73.94	+2.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 ₱431.63	$4.50 ZAR76.09	-38.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 ₱130.51	$2.49 ZAR42.19	+12.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.28 ₱134.63	$2.43 ZAR41.18	+6.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 ₱89.37	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-48.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 ₱48.49	$0.76 ZAR12.83	-7.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64 ₱96.51	$0.74 ZAR12.54	-54.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.02 ₱60.36	$0.78 ZAR13.19	-23.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 ₱68.98	$0.60 ZAR10.08	-49.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 ₱81.04	$0.62 ZAR10.51	-54.8%
Average			-24.6%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 88.8% more for transportation

	Manila	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.18 ₱246.46	$4.73 ZAR80.12	+13.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.76 ₱811.51	$28.68 ZAR485.44	+108.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,288.58 ₱1,491,141.28	$21,796.50 ZAR368,934.03	-13.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.92 ₱172.44	$10.15 ZAR171.85	+247.2%
Average			+88.8%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.0% more for housing

	Manila	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.10 ₱1,598.07	$42.97 ZAR727.40	+58.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$512.96 ₱30,246.98	$838.02 ZAR14,184.54	+63.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$251.74 ₱14,843.72	$559.94 ZAR9,477.63	+122.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.49 ₱5,925.44	$91.96 ZAR1,556.46	-8.5%
Average			+59.0%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8% less for childcare

	Manila	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.58 ₱8,171.41	$228.00 ZAR3,859.24	+64.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,035.39 ₱1,004,491.60	$5,090.62 ZAR86,165.43	-70.1%
Average			-2.8%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Manila	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.46 ₱86.22	$2.87 ZAR48.54	+96.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 ₱152.56	$2.12 ZAR35.82	-18.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.27 ₱192.73	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-3.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.13 ₱2,484.39	$44.05 ZAR745.55	+4.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.48 ₱441.26	$6.88 ZAR116.51	-8.0%
Average			+14.2%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.1% more for clothing

	Manila	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.23 ₱2,902.69	$55.23 ZAR934.82	+12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.70 ₱1,751.10	$33.91 ZAR573.94	+14.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.85 ₱4,767.52	$117.06 ZAR1,981.48	+44.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$49.70 ₱2,930.32	$88.13 ZAR1,491.79	+77.3%
Average			+37.1%

Manila vs. Cape Town - 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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