Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 56.0% cheaper than Reykjavik.

Restaurants: pay 66.3% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 56.9% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 59.9% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 33.0% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 56.9% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 66.1% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 53.2% less in Cape Town

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, childcare, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Reykjavik, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.3% less for restaurants

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$27.48 ISK3,517	$11.47 ZAR194.18	-58.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$22.76 ISK2,913	$5.16 ZAR87.38	-77.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.34 ISK427	$1.20 ZAR20.35	-63.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.70 ISK345	$0.92 ZAR15.53	-66.0%
Average			-66.3%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.9% less for groceries

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$4.63 ISK593	$1.14 ZAR19.21	-75.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.44 ISK1,208	$4.37 ZAR73.94	-53.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.63 ISK976	$4.50 ZAR76.09	-41.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.50 ISK832	$2.49 ZAR42.19	-61.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$11.29 ISK1,445	$2.43 ZAR41.18	-78.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.59 ISK204	$0.78 ZAR13.27	-50.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.17 ISK150	$0.76 ZAR12.83	-35.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.49 ISK190	$0.74 ZAR12.54	-50.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.54 ISK325	$0.78 ZAR13.19	-69.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 ISK217	$0.60 ZAR10.08	-64.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.13 ISK145	$0.62 ZAR10.51	-45.1%
Average			-56.9%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 59.9% less for transportation

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.66 ISK1,236	$4.73 ZAR80.12	-51.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$88.58 ISK11,337	$28.68 ZAR485.44	-67.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,771.00 ISK6,497,672	$21,796.50 ZAR368,934.03	-57.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.07 ISK3,592	$10.15 ZAR171.85	-63.8%
Average			-59.9%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.0% less for housing

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$81.97 ISK10,490	$42.97 ZAR727.40	-47.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,259.48 ISK289,169	$838.02 ZAR14,184.54	-62.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,034.90 ISK260,427	$559.94 ZAR9,477.63	-72.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.87 ISK7,791	$91.96 ZAR1,556.46	+51.1%
Average			-33.0%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 56.9% less for childcare

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$327.78 ISK41,949	$228.00 ZAR3,859.24	-30.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,711.08 ISK3,930,404	$5,090.62 ZAR86,165.43	-83.4%
Average			-56.9%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 66.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.12 ISK1,680	$2.87 ZAR48.54	-78.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.17 ISK790	$2.12 ZAR35.82	-65.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.94 ISK1,783	$3.15 ZAR53.40	-77.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$87.35 ISK11,179	$44.05 ZAR745.55	-49.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.18 ISK2,199	$6.88 ZAR116.51	-59.9%
Average			-66.1%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 53.2% less for clothing

	Reykjavik	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$145.10 ISK18,569	$55.23 ZAR934.82	-61.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.97 ISK8,187	$33.91 ZAR573.94	-47.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$193.43 ISK24,755	$117.06 ZAR1,981.48	-39.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$248.79 ISK31,840	$88.13 ZAR1,491.79	-64.6%
Average			-53.2%

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town - 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: December 2025

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