Cost of living comparison

Papua New Guinea

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Port Moresby Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 29.4% cheaper than Port Moresby.

Restaurants: pay 12.3% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 50.6% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 54.6% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 47.2% less in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 37.4% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.7% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 13.5% less in Pretoria

The cost of transportation and restaurants in Pretoria are more expensive than in Port Moresby. Expenses including groceries, housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Pretoria.

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Pretoria vs. Port Moresby Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Port Moresby, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.3% more for restaurants

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.78 PGK35.37	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+15.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 PGK25.27	$5.41 ZAR89.20	-2.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 PGK3.41	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+41.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 PGK3.03	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+27.7%
Average			+12.3%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.6% less for groceries

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 PGK6.91	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-27.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.32 PGK19.64	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-3.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.10 PGK32.28	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-37.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.69 PGK16.78	$2.47 ZAR40.74	-33.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.58 PGK11.75	$2.23 ZAR36.86	-13.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 PGK8.88	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-59.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.44 PGK6.57	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-48.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.29 PGK14.97	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-75.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.92 PGK13.29	$0.72 ZAR11.92	-75.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.51 PGK6.88	$0.50 ZAR8.18	-67.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.31 PGK5.96	$0.54 ZAR8.93	-58.7%
Average			-50.6%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.6% more for transportation

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 PGK17.18	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+52.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.22 PGK101.06	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+698.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,004.77 PGK227K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-29.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.34 PGK106.12	$6.55 ZAR108.03	-71.9%
Average			+54.6%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.2% less for housing

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$91.68 PGK416.89	$36.83 ZAR607.50	-59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,603.86 PGK7,293.44	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-71.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.61 PGK2,526.59	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	-27.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$89.65 PGK407.67	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+28.8%
Average			-47.2%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 37.4% less for childcare

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$842.47 PGK3,831.07	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-69.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,176.41 PGK28,086.83	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	+26.6%
Average			-37.4%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 PGK13.64	$2.55 ZAR42.12	-14.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.47 PGK11.24	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-8.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.45 PGK29.31	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.49 PGK279.61	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-48.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.89 PGK40.43	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-18.9%
Average			-28.7%

Port Moresby vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.5% less for clothing

	Port Moresby	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$32.73 PGK148.82	$53.03 ZAR874.71	+62.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.67 PGK144.02	$32.00 ZAR527.89	+1.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$136.12 PGK619.02	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	-32.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$163.90 PGK745.35	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	-49.4%
Average			-13.5%

Port Moresby 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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