Cost of living comparison

Mauritania

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Mauritania Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 44.9% more expensive than Mauritania overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 21.1% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 54.7% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 45.7% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 93.4% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Mauritania Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 63.3% more for restaurants

	Mauritania	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.49 MRO895	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+309.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.93 MRO2,130	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-0.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 MRO632	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-38.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 MRO770	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-61.0%
Average			+63.3%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.1% more for groceries

	Mauritania	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.27 MRO96	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+298.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.99 MRO1,074	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+36.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.02 MRO2,160	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-23.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.32 MRO832	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+10.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MRO882	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.44 MRO518	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-43.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.84 MRO302	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-12.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 MRO257	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+9.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 MRO185	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+49.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 MRO157	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+47.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 MRO147	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+60.5%
Average			+21.1%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Mauritania	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.42 MRO1,945	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+1.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.81 MRO7,831	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+198.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,478.76 MRO3M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+334.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.86 MRO1,387	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+90.2%
Average			+118.9%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.7% more for housing

	Mauritania	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.83 MRO21,479	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-34.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$291.49 MRO105K	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+44.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$174.41 MRO62,615	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+111.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$98.49 MRO35,360	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+7.2%
Average			+54.7%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 45.7% less for childcare

	Mauritania	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$443.74 MRO159K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-55.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,503.69 MRO3M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-34.5%
Average			-45.7%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Mauritania	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.75 MRO626	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+29.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 MRO819	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-1.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.49 MRO895	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+26.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$86.63 MRO31,100	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-63.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.05 MRO1,454	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+80.6%
Average			-3.2%

Mauritania vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 93.4% more for clothing

	Mauritania	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$15.21 MRO5,459	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+246.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.85 MRO8,204	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+49.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.31 MRO24,522	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+46.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.74 MRO16,780	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+85.3%
Average			+93.4%

Mauritania 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: Mauritania vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 26 statistics

Be 3.1 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Mauritania is about 1.2 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Mauritania to South Africa · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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