Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 11.7% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 4.6% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 7.7% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 33.9% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 17.9% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 71.1% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.8% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 40.2% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.6% less for restaurants

	Moscow	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB939.71	$12.02 ZAR199.18	+2.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB563.82	$6.01 ZAR99.59	-14.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB129.95	$1.30 ZAR21.55	-19.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB67.15	$0.99 ZAR16.45	+18.8%
Average			-4.6%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.7% more for groceries

	Moscow	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB81.75	$1.23 ZAR20.44	+21.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB573.37	$4.39 ZAR72.76	-38.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB370.58	$4.99 ZAR82.76	+8.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB149.76	$3.14 ZAR52.04	+68.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB239.67	$3.07 ZAR50.89	+2.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB74.87	$0.85 ZAR14.06	-9.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB65.37	$0.87 ZAR14.42	+6.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB72.45	$0.77 ZAR12.78	-14.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB143.49	$0.95 ZAR15.78	-46.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB32.65	$0.70 ZAR11.57	+71.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB25.99	$0.68 ZAR11.35	+111.6%
Average			+7.7%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.9% more for transportation

	Moscow	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB266.01	$5.86 ZAR97.08	+76.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,265.48	$60.09 ZAR995.89	+47.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$35,391.94 ZAR587K	-9.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB808.15	$12.62 ZAR209.14	+25.4%
Average			+33.9%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.9% less for housing

	Moscow	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB793.71	$39.98 ZAR662.57	+304.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB117K	$1,017.49 ZAR16,863.66	-30.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB64,618.54	$706.64 ZAR11,711.61	-12.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB11,475.08	$88.53 ZAR1,467.33	-38.0%
Average			-17.9%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 71.1% less for childcare

	Moscow	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB64,988.02	$262.39 ZAR4,348.70	-67.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-74.2%
Average			-71.1%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB375.88	$3.00 ZAR49.79	-35.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB297.16	$2.43 ZAR40.23	-34.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB277.21	$3.61 ZAR59.75	+4.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,374.88	$49.37 ZAR818.20	+17.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB751.76	$9.01 ZAR149.38	-3.7%
Average			-12.8%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.2% less for clothing

	Moscow	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB8,713.17	$55.49 ZAR919.73	-48.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,018.03	$32.30 ZAR535.29	-48.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB11,672.48	$119.84 ZAR1,986.24	-17.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB14,475.07	$105.58 ZAR1,749.91	-41.4%
Average			-40.2%

Moscow vs. Cape Town - 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: Moscow vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Moscow is around the same size as Cape Town.

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