Cost of living comparison

Nigeria

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Nigeria Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 56.9% more expensive than Nigeria overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 15.5% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 33.3% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 4.6% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.8% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.5 times more in South Africa

The cost of restaurants, clothing, transportation, entertainment and sports, housing, and groceries in South Africa are more expensive than in Nigeria. Notably, restaurants, clothing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in South Africa.

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South Africa vs. Nigeria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Nigeria	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 NGN2,908.76	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+367.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.09 NGN6,780.76	$5.91 ZAR97.49	+16.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 NGN473.34	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+204.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 NGN419.49	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+165.1%
Average			+159.8%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.5% more for groceries

	Nigeria	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 NGN1,262.10	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+12.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.24 NGN2,979.24	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+82.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.26 NGN12,329.33	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-50.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.49 NGN1,978.89	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+72.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.76 NGN2,340.96	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+31.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 NGN1,167.11	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-7.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 NGN872.87	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+12.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.53 NGN709.16	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+47.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 NGN890.29	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+15.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 NGN819.78	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+4.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NGN763.60	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+14.7%
Average			+15.5%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Nigeria	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.41 NGN3,205.09	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+128.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.22 NGN28,254.69	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+206.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,156.84 NGN24M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+79.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.88 NGN9,164.43	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+6.7%
Average			+111.7%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.3% more for housing

	Nigeria	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.12 NGN24,120.18	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+114.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$372.59 NGN496K	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+13.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$284.75 NGN379K	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+29.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.52 NGN73,907.84	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+90.1%
Average			+33.3%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 4.6% more for childcare

	Nigeria	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.45 NGN292K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-9.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,089.03 NGN5M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	+20.3%
Average			+4.6%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Nigeria	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.74 NGN982.05	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+205.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 NGN3,070.30	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-2.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.13 NGN1,506.57	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+179.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$19.01 NGN25,311.31	$31.59 ZAR521.05	+66.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.40 NGN5,854.04	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+66.4%
Average			+77.8%

Nigeria vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5 times more for clothing

	Nigeria	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.41 NGN17,851.33	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+292.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.94 NGN27,874.19	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+63.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.35 NGN45,733.44	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+190.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.18 NGN53,488.77	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+115.5%
Average			+151.6%

Nigeria 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: Nigeria vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 27 statistics

Be 10.6 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Nigeria is about 1.3 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Nigeria to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

36,210 people born in Nigeria live in South Africa.

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