Cost of living comparison

Latvia

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Riga Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 0.9% more expensive than Riga.

Restaurants: pay 28.8% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 4.0% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 14.5% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 38.2% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 60.3% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.3% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 14.0% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Riga Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.8% less for restaurants

	Riga	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$12.02 ZAR198.22	-28.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.24 €8.22	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-35.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 €1.44	$1.30 ZAR21.44	-19.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 €1.05	$0.99 ZAR16.37	-15.8%
Average			-28.8%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.0% less for groceries

	Riga	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$1.23 ZAR20.34	-13.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.22 €4.65	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-15.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 €3.92	$4.99 ZAR82.36	+13.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.34	$3.14 ZAR51.78	-16.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.91 €3.48	$3.07 ZAR50.65	-21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.85 ZAR13.99	-14.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.73	$0.87 ZAR14.35	+5.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 €1.00	$0.77 ZAR12.72	-31.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.40 €1.24	$0.95 ZAR15.70	-31.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 €0.36	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+73.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 €0.37	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+62.8%
Average			-4.0%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.5% more for transportation

	Riga	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.75 €6.90	$5.86 ZAR96.61	-24.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.59 €29.90	$60.09 ZAR991.09	+78.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,308.11 €24,305.20	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+29.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.42 €10.17	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+10.5%
Average			+14.5%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.2% more for housing

	Riga	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.41 €18.17	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+95.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$582.45 €518.40	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+74.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$385.02 €342.68	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+83.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$286.52 €255.02	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	-69.1%
Average			+38.2%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 60.3% less for childcare

	Riga	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$645.25 €574.29	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-59.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,635.84 €15,696.53	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	-61.3%
Average			-60.3%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Riga	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.00 ZAR49.55	-46.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.72 €3.31	$2.43 ZAR40.04	-34.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$3.61 ZAR59.47	-46.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.91 €44.42	$49.37 ZAR814.26	-1.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.75 €9.57	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-16.2%
Average			-27.3%

Riga vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.0% less for clothing

	Riga	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.42 €61.79	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-20.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.39 €44.85	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-35.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.85 €76.41	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+39.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.10 €122.91	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	-23.5%
Average			-14.0%

Riga vs. Cape Town - 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

Compare further: Riga vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Riga is about 8 times smaller than Cape Town.

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