Cost of living comparison

Brazil

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Rio De Janeiro Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 10.9% more expensive than Rio De Janeiro.

Restaurants: pay 5.7% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 2.4% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 7.6% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 65.2% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 58.7% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.8% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 21.3% more in Cape Town

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Cape Town are more expensive than in Rio De Janeiro.

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Cape Town vs. Rio De Janeiro Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Rio De Janeiro, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.7% more for restaurants

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.46 R$38.23	$11.47 ZAR188.63	+53.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.52 R$33.45	$5.16 ZAR84.88	-20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.36 R$6.99	$1.20 ZAR19.77	-11.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 R$4.65	$0.92 ZAR15.09	+1.3%
Average			+5.7%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4% more for groceries

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 R$9.27	$1.14 ZAR18.66	-37.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 R$22.38	$4.37 ZAR71.82	+0.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.34 R$22.24	$4.50 ZAR73.92	+3.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 R$10.58	$2.49 ZAR40.98	+20.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.80 R$9.25	$2.43 ZAR40.01	+34.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 R$5.69	$0.78 ZAR12.89	-29.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 R$3.81	$0.76 ZAR12.46	+2.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 R$3.68	$0.74 ZAR12.18	+3.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 R$3.57	$0.78 ZAR12.81	+11.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 R$3.09	$0.60 ZAR9.79	-1.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 R$2.71	$0.62 ZAR10.21	+17.3%
Average			+2.4%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.6% more for transportation

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.27 R$21.91	$4.73 ZAR77.83	+10.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.48 R$207.57	$28.68 ZAR471.56	-29.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,595.53 R$106K	$21,796.50 ZAR358K	+5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.10 R$36.41	$10.15 ZAR166.93	+43.0%
Average			+7.6%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 65.2% more for housing

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.70 R$100.98	$42.97 ZAR706.61	+118.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$496.63 R$2,546.30	$838.02 ZAR13,779.11	+68.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$344.11 R$1,764.32	$559.94 ZAR9,206.73	+62.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.68 R$423.91	$91.96 ZAR1,511.97	+11.2%
Average			+65.2%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 58.7% less for childcare

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$544.48 R$2,791.67	$228.00 ZAR3,748.94	-58.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,471.41 R$63,943.39	$5,090.62 ZAR83,702.59	-59.2%
Average			-58.7%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.86 R$9.56	$2.87 ZAR47.16	+53.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 R$10.61	$2.12 ZAR34.79	+2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.05 R$10.51	$3.15 ZAR51.87	+53.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.14 R$144.26	$44.05 ZAR724.24	+56.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.08 R$36.32	$6.88 ZAR113.18	-2.8%
Average			+32.8%

Rio De Janeiro vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.3% more for clothing

	Rio De Janeiro	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.68 R$239.35	$55.23 ZAR908.10	+18.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.02 R$220.58	$33.91 ZAR557.54	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.54 R$402.69	$117.06 ZAR1,924.84	+49.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$63.36 R$324.88	$88.13 ZAR1,449.15	+39.1%
Average			+21.3%

Rio De Janeiro 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: July 2026

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