Cost of living comparison

Namibia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Namibia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 2.1% more expensive than Namibia overall.

Restaurants: pay 13.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 18.7% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 27.3% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.7% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 6.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.7% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 0.2% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Namibia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.3% more for restaurants

	Namibia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.82 NAD145.91	$10.21 ZAR168.71	+15.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.59 NAD92.52	$5.91 ZAR97.65	+5.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 NAD13.82	$1.08 ZAR17.90	+29.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 NAD12.05	$0.84 ZAR13.80	+14.7%
Average			+13.3%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.7% less for groceries

	Namibia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 NAD17.66	$1.07 ZAR17.62	-0.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 NAD74.79	$4.08 ZAR67.44	-9.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 NAD111.72	$4.58 ZAR75.61	-32.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.40 NAD39.75	$2.56 ZAR42.35	+6.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.90 NAD47.92	$2.31 ZAR38.22	-20.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 NAD19.62	$0.81 ZAR13.42	-31.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 NAD13.76	$0.74 ZAR12.15	-11.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 NAD13.82	$0.79 ZAR12.97	-6.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 NAD14.52	$0.77 ZAR12.73	-12.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 NAD16.50	$0.64 ZAR10.64	-35.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 NAD17.94	$0.66 ZAR10.87	-39.3%
Average			-18.7%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.3% more for transportation

	Namibia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 NAD83.08	$5.49 ZAR90.67	+9.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.08 NAD646.63	$65.15 ZAR1,076.25	+66.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,990.15 NAD397K	$32,517.32 ZAR537K	+35.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.03 NAD132.81	$7.35 ZAR121.39	-8.5%
Average			+27.3%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7% more for housing

	Namibia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.44 NAD834.55	$38.93 ZAR643.18	-22.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$460.71 NAD7,622.82	$421.37 ZAR6,961.07	-8.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$348.00 NAD5,757.91	$369.24 ZAR6,099.94	+6.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$74.69 NAD1,235.79	$105.57 ZAR1,743.99	+41.3%
Average			+2.7%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 6.0% less for childcare

	Namibia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$208.44 NAD3,448.72	$199.53 ZAR3,296.31	-4.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,331.14 NAD88,207.54	$4,917.78 ZAR81,241.91	-7.8%
Average			-6.0%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Namibia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.66 NAD27.47	$2.25 ZAR37.19	+35.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 NAD34.27	$2.25 ZAR37.24	+8.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.31 NAD54.72	$3.16 ZAR52.21	-4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.58 NAD654.92	$31.59 ZAR521.88	-20.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.41 NAD89.53	$7.32 ZAR120.89	+35.2%
Average			+9.7%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.2% less for clothing

	Namibia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.50 NAD1,001.04	$52.66 ZAR869.92	-13.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.63 NAD573.02	$34.13 ZAR563.81	-1.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.44 NAD1,479.80	$99.75 ZAR1,647.89	+11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$83.42 NAD1,380.32	$86.61 ZAR1,430.75	+3.8%
Average			-0.2%

Namibia 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: Namibia vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 67.9% more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Namibia is about 1.5 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Namibia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

36,671 people born in Namibia live in South Africa.

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