Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Pretoria Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 0.8% more expensive than Pretoria.

Restaurants: pay 32.6% more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 10.6% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 49.7% less in Chisinau
Housing: pay 22.0% more in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 11.5% more in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.3% more in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 39.9% more in Chisinau

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

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Chisinau vs. Pretoria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 32.6% more for restaurants

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.01 ZAR148.66	$11.22 MDL201.58	+24.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.41 ZAR89.20	$8.70 MDL156.22	+60.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 ZAR17.48	$1.21 MDL21.71	+14.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 ZAR14.04	$0.89 MDL16.00	+4.6%
Average			+32.6%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.6% less for groceries

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 ZAR18.21	$0.71 MDL12.77	-35.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18 ZAR68.94	$4.89 MDL87.82	+16.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.45 ZAR73.36	$4.73 MDL85.03	+6.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 ZAR40.74	$2.79 MDL50.06	+12.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.23 ZAR36.86	$2.36 MDL42.34	+5.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.10	$0.44 MDL7.87	-44.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.22	$0.87 MDL15.68	+17.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.11	$0.94 MDL16.87	+18.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR11.92	$1.01 MDL18.06	+39.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ZAR8.18	$0.31 MDL5.61	-37.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 ZAR8.93	$0.25 MDL4.42	-54.6%
Average			-10.6%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 49.7% less for transportation

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.75 ZAR94.81	$6.44 MDL115.64	+12.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	$13.52 MDL242.90	-92.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$29,507.41 MDL530K	-16.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.55 ZAR108.03	$4.94 MDL88.69	-24.6%
Average			-49.7%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.0% more for housing

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.83 ZAR607.50	$10.59 MDL190.33	-71.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	+49.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	+7.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	+60.9%
Average			+22.0%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 11.5% more for childcare

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	+66.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	$5,841.67 MDL105K	-25.3%
Average			+11.5%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.55 ZAR42.12	$2.24 MDL40.32	-12.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.17	$2.16 MDL38.87	-4.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.25 ZAR53.60	$3.42 MDL61.48	+5.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.49 ZAR519.46	$41.67 MDL748.71	+32.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.21 ZAR118.93	$8.41 MDL151.18	+16.7%
Average			+8.3%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.9% more for clothing

	Pretoria	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.03 ZAR874.71	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	+50.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.00 ZAR527.89	$47.07 MDL845.61	+47.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	+24.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	+39.4%
Average			+39.9%

Pretoria vs. Chisinau - 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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