Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Pretoria Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 69.6% more expensive than Pretoria.

Restaurants: pay 0.4% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 19.0% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 58.8% more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 65.3% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 2.4% more in Tokyo

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, and clothing in Tokyo are more expensive than in Pretoria. Notably, childcare and groceries are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

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Tokyo vs. Pretoria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 0.4% less for restaurants

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.64 ZAR139.77	$8.02 ¥1,284	-7.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.04 ZAR81.53	$5.01 ¥802	-0.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.48	$1.16 ¥186	+7.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 ZAR13.78	$0.84 ¥135	-1.2%
Average			-0.4%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.06 ZAR17.16	$1.55 ¥249	+46.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.04 ZAR65.34	$7.21 ¥1,154	+78.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.70 ZAR76.06	$5.71 ¥915	+21.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.48 ZAR40.03	$2.33 ¥373	-5.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 ZAR34.16	$3.52 ¥564	+66.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.30	$2.38 ¥381	+212.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR11.52	$1.18 ¥189	+65.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR12.13	$2.48 ¥396	+230.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.30	$2.64 ¥423	+247.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR9.64	$1.43 ¥228	+139.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR8.82	$1.48 ¥237	+171.6%
Average			+115.8%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.0% more for transportation

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR80.79	$4.50 ¥720	-9.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$170.26 ZAR2,753.51	$73.51 ¥11,767	-56.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,166.39 ZAR326K	$22,332.63 ¥4M	+10.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.96 ZAR209.66	$30.07 ¥4,814	+132.0%
Average			+19.0%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 58.8% more for housing

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.76 ZAR594.50	$33.44 ¥5,354	-9.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$407.94 ZAR6,597.23	$1,071.65 ¥172K	+162.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$411.01 ZAR6,646.93	$642.24 ¥103K	+56.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$97.62 ZAR1,578.77	$122.16 ¥19,556	+25.1%
Average			+58.8%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$202.82 ZAR3,279.98	$519.69 ¥83,194	+156.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,822.97 ZAR61,825.74	$15,131.74 ¥2M	+295.8%
Average			+226.0%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 65.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.30 ZAR37.27	$4.01 ¥642	+74.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.15 ZAR34.70	$3.43 ¥549	+59.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.88 ZAR46.59	$4.01 ¥642	+39.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.87 ZAR580.10	$68.19 ¥10,916	+90.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.78 ZAR125.79	$12.70 ¥2,033	+63.2%
Average			+65.3%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4% more for clothing

	Pretoria	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.50 ZAR816.64	$56.84 ¥9,099	+12.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.12 ZAR535.70	$40.48 ¥6,481	+22.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.07 ZAR1,440.43	$62.67 ¥10,033	-29.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.43 ZAR1,397.72	$90.37 ¥14,467	+4.6%
Average			+2.4%

Pretoria vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: August 2026

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See the cost of living in South Africa vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within South Africa and Japan.

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