Cost of living comparison

Paraguay

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Paraguay Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 16.8% more expensive than Paraguay overall.

Restaurants: pay 23.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 5.4% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 38.2% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 19.5% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 26.6% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.5% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 7.0% less in South Africa

The cost of transportation, childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in South Africa are more expensive than in Paraguay.

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South Africa vs. Paraguay Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.2% more for restaurants

	Paraguay	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.57 PYG37,579	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+55.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.51 PYG37,252	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-9.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 PYG5,827	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+6.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 PYG3,268	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+46.2%
Average			+23.2%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.4% more for groceries

	Paraguay	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 PYG8,043	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-24.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.64 PYG26,538	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-12.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 PYG25,803	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 PYG12,676	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+15.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.95 PYG11,173	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+18.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.21 PYG6,939	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-33.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 PYG3,218	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+30.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.50 PYG2,880	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+55.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 PYG5,262	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-16.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 PYG3,100	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+18.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 PYG2,653	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+41.9%
Average			+5.4%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.2% more for transportation

	Paraguay	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.65 PYG26,593	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+18.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.71 PYG216K	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+72.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,138.81 PYG98M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+89.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.81 PYG79,014	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-46.8%
Average			+38.2%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.5% more for housing

	Paraguay	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.97 PYG120K	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+85.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$483.98 PYG3M	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-12.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$343.10 PYG2M	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+7.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$33.29 PYG190K	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+217.1%
Average			+19.5%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 26.6% more for childcare

	Paraguay	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.54 PYG781K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	+46.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,480.72 PYG26M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	+9.8%
Average			+26.6%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Paraguay	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.46 PYG8,333	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+54.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.00 PYG17,137	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-24.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.63 PYG9,313	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+94.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.98 PYG189K	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-4.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.71 PYG44,114	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-5.1%
Average			+7.5%

Paraguay vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.0% less for clothing

	Paraguay	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$63.41 PYG363K	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-17.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.55 PYG278K	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-29.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.99 PYG589K	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	-3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$65.32 PYG374K	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+32.6%
Average			-7.0%

Paraguay 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: Paraguay vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 6.7 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Paraguay is about 3 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Paraguay to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

140 people born in Paraguay live in South Africa.

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