Cost of living comparison

Suriname

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Paramaribo Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 11.2% more expensive than Paramaribo.

Restaurants: pay 35.9% less in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 41.2% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 17.7% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 43.5% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 4.3 times more in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.5% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 27.4% more in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Paramaribo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Paramaribo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 35.9% less for restaurants

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.20 SRD496.97	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-31.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.99 SRD413.72	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-50.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.39 SRD52.25	$1.06 ZAR17.48	-23.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 SRD31.47	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+1.8%
Average			-35.9%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.2% less for groceries

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.37 SRD51.65	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-19.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.90 SRD222.10	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-29.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.81 SRD256.22	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-34.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.04 SRD114.28	$2.47 ZAR40.74	-18.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.78 SRD104.74	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-19.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 SRD82.78	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-63.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 SRD52.42	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-46.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 SRD63.71	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-53.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.71 SRD101.97	$0.72 ZAR11.92	-73.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 SRD22.95	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-18.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 SRD33.38	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-38.9%
Average			-41.2%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.7% more for transportation

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.36 SRD164.08	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+31.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SRD941K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+41.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.40 SRD542.03	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-54.5%
Average			+17.7%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.5% more for housing

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.37 SRD1,143.15	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+21.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$484.98 SRD18,255.37	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-6.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$265.59 SRD9,997.38	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	+52.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$28.73 SRD1,081.26	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+302.1%
Average			+43.5%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 4.3 times more for childcare

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$62.79 SRD2,363.55	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	+315.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,745.94 SRD65,719.74	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	+348.0%
Average			+331.3%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.64 SRD99.39	$2.55 ZAR42.12	-3.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.83 SRD106.37	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-20.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.68 SRD213.70	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-42.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.54 SRD509.72	$31.49 ZAR519.46	+132.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SRD188.21	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+44.2%
Average			+21.5%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.4% more for clothing

	Paramaribo	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.33 SRD1,254.67	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+59.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.08 SRD793.55	$32.00 ZAR527.89	+51.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.25 SRD2,531.34	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+36.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.71 SRD3,903.78	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	-20.1%
Average			+27.4%

Paramaribo vs. Pretoria - 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

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