Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 45.2% more expensive than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.9% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 12.5% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 3.7 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 29.2% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 6.4% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.7% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 21.8% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.9% more for restaurants

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.57 NIO167.54	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+104.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.80 NIO249.70	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-24.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 NIO30.05	$1.03 ZAR17.65	+26.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 NIO22.01	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+33.9%
Average			+34.9%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.5% less for groceries

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NIO63.99	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-42.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.29 NIO120.87	$3.88 ZAR66.47	+17.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.55 NIO166.90	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-3.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.98 NIO72.59	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+18.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.48 NIO90.82	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 NIO64.95	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-58.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.39 NIO14.44	$0.65 ZAR11.16	+65.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO29.96	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-16.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 NIO32.04	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-18.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 NIO45.67	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-53.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.88 NIO32.12	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-31.4%
Average			-12.5%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.7 times more for transportation

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.95 NIO181.64	$4.92 ZAR84.25	-0.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.00 NIO183.61	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+1022.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-6.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.56 NIO204.17	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+67.8%
Average			+270.8%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.2% more for housing

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.35 NIO1,333.96	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+8.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$326.67 NIO11,986.84	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	+23.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$283.96 NIO10,419.68	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+27.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.87 NIO2,050.11	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	+57.7%
Average			+29.2%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.4% more for childcare

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$118.12 NIO4,334.53	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	+46.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-34.0%
Average			+6.4%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.31 NIO47.93	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+66.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 NIO79.30	$2.05 ZAR35.06	-5.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.66 NIO97.58	$2.96 ZAR50.72	+11.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.69 NIO1,236.40	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-10.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00 NIO293.56	$6.85 ZAR117.19	-14.4%
Average			+9.7%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.8% less for clothing

	Nicaragua	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.83 NIO2,268.67	$50.74 ZAR868.31	-17.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.88 NIO2,270.47	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-47.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.23 NIO3,971.55	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	-13.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$89.99 NIO3,302.29	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-9.1%
Average			-21.8%

Nicaragua vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Nicaragua vs.

China

Nicaragua vs.

Canada

Nicaragua vs.

Peru

Nicaragua vs.

United States

Nicaragua vs.

Egypt

Nicaragua vs.

Russia

Nicaragua vs.

Thailand

Nicaragua vs.

Spain

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Managua vs. Pretoria

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Nicaragua

Add prices for South Africa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about South Africa or Nicaragua. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.