Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Moldova Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 15.8% more expensive than Moldova overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.7% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 27.7% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 42.0% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 12.3% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 9.3% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.7% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 5.9% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Moldova Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.7% less for restaurants

	Moldova	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.35 MDL167.98	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+9.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.74 MDL157.06	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-32.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 MDL18.32	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+6.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 MDL12.05	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+24.5%
Average			-6.7%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.7% more for groceries

	Moldova	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.51 MDL9.13	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+109.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.87 MDL69.59	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+5.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 MDL79.21	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+3.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MDL41.48	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+11.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MDL39.50	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+5.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.45 MDL8.11	$0.81 ZAR13.40	+80.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 MDL16.65	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-20.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.67	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-10.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MDL18.65	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-25.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.63	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+105.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 MDL4.22	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+180.4%
Average			+27.7%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.0% more for transportation

	Moldova	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 MDL110.50	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-10.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.07 MDL306.73	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+281.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,274.90 MDL580K	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+0.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.30 MDL77.27	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+70.9%
Average			+42.0%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.3% more for housing

	Moldova	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.64 MDL191.11	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+266.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.42 MDL7,445.70	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+1.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.91 MDL5,424.26	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+22.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.34 MDL2,413.65	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-21.4%
Average			+12.3%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 9.3% less for childcare

	Moldova	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.48 MDL3,943.33	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-9.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,438.11 MDL97,703.64	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-9.6%
Average			-9.3%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Moldova	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 MDL26.88	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+50.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.77 MDL31.77	$2.25 ZAR37.18	+27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.38 MDL60.81	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-6.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.66 MDL568.73	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-0.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.45 MDL115.91	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+13.4%
Average			+16.7%

Moldova vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.9% more for clothing

	Moldova	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.78 MDL948.25	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-0.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.13 MDL685.02	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-10.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.27 MDL1,657.83	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+8.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.57 MDL1,196.02	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+30.1%
Average			+5.9%

Moldova 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: Moldova vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 21.6 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Moldova is about 36 times smaller than South Africa.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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