Cost of living comparison

Montenegro

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Montenegro Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 13.5% cheaper than Montenegro overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.3% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 1.4% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 8.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 20.1% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 37.9% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.0% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 15.2% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Montenegro Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.3% less for restaurants

	Montenegro	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.20 €9.99	$10.21 ZAR169.26	-8.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.63 €8.59	$5.91 ZAR97.96	-38.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 €2.05	$1.08 ZAR17.96	-52.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.50 €1.34	$0.84 ZAR13.84	-44.5%
Average			-29.3%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.4% more for groceries

	Montenegro	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 €0.89	$1.07 ZAR17.68	+7.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.31 €3.85	$4.08 ZAR67.65	-5.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.59 €4.10	$4.58 ZAR75.86	-0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.07 €2.74	$2.56 ZAR42.48	-16.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.53 €3.15	$2.31 ZAR38.34	-34.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.61 €0.55	$0.81 ZAR13.47	+32.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 €0.66	$0.74 ZAR12.19	-0.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 €0.61	$0.79 ZAR13.01	+15.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.14 €1.01	$0.77 ZAR12.77	-32.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 €0.37	$0.64 ZAR10.68	+56.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.50 €0.45	$0.66 ZAR10.90	+31.3%
Average			+1.4%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.6% more for transportation

	Montenegro	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.55 €5.85	$5.49 ZAR90.97	-16.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$36.79 €32.84	$65.15 ZAR1,079.75	+77.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,365.51 €26,209.84	$32,517.32 ZAR539K	+10.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.81 €8.76	$7.35 ZAR121.78	-25.1%
Average			+8.6%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.1% less for housing

	Montenegro	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.12 €27.77	$38.93 ZAR645.27	+25.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$612.92 €547.05	$421.37 ZAR6,983.69	-31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$466.81 €416.65	$369.24 ZAR6,119.76	-20.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.23 €89.46	$105.57 ZAR1,749.66	+5.3%
Average			-20.1%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 37.9% less for childcare

	Montenegro	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$358.02 €319.54	$199.53 ZAR3,307.02	-44.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,100.06 €6,337.07	$4,917.78 ZAR81,505.89	-30.7%
Average			-37.9%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Montenegro	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.94 €2.62	$2.25 ZAR37.31	-23.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 €2.26	$2.25 ZAR37.36	-10.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.18 €3.73	$3.16 ZAR52.38	-24.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.64 €38.95	$31.59 ZAR523.57	-27.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.10 €5.45	$7.32 ZAR121.28	+19.9%
Average			-13.0%

Montenegro vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.2% less for clothing

	Montenegro	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.85 €75.73	$52.66 ZAR872.75	-37.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.05 €33.07	$34.13 ZAR565.64	-7.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.45 €77.16	$99.75 ZAR1,653.25	+15.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.29 €98.44	$86.61 ZAR1,435.40	-21.5%
Average			-15.2%

Montenegro 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: Montenegro vs. South Africa

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 2.4 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Montenegro is about 88 times smaller than South Africa.

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

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