Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 17.3% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 32.7% more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 9.2% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 58.5% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 41.5% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 50.3% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.0% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 2.7% less in Johannesburg

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

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Johannesburg vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 32.7% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR29.99	$12.02 ZAR198.53	+50.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR29.99	$7.21 ZAR119.12	-9.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.20 ZAR19.78	+37.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.89 ZAR14.72	+184.3%
Average			+32.7%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.2% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.25 ZAR20.60	-3.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.77	$4.31 ZAR71.21	-18.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.38	$5.00 ZAR82.66	-26.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$2.67 ZAR44.17	-13.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$2.50 ZAR41.31	-42.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$0.93 ZAR15.41	-28.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.83 ZAR13.73	-4.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.83 ZAR13.65	-26.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$0.94 ZAR15.52	+18.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.76 ZAR12.59	+40.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.84 ZAR13.83	+42.0%
Average			-9.2%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 58.5% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.81	$5.77 ZAR95.33	+145.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR139.97	$90.13 ZAR1,488.99	+141.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+2.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR67.99	$8.05 ZAR133.02	-55.6%
Average			+58.5%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.5% less for housing

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.13	$35.90 ZAR593.03	-50.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,453.00	$498.84 ZAR8,240.91	-58.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,127.91	$425.42 ZAR7,028.03	-49.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.12	$174.98 ZAR2,890.63	+113.8%
Average			-41.5%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 50.3% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.25	$242.74 ZAR4,010.09	-54.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,915.67	$5,468.16 ZAR90,334.24	-45.9%
Average			-50.3%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$2.25 ZAR37.22	+5.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.06	$2.44 ZAR40.34	-43.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR28.99	$3.30 ZAR54.60	-57.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.43	$36.60 ZAR604.68	-59.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR49.99	$7.81 ZAR129.05	-41.4%
Average			-42.0%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.72	$57.63 ZAR952.05	-1.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.59	$45.77 ZAR756.18	-15.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR384.92	$108.45 ZAR1,791.55	+5.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR389.92	$105.86 ZAR1,748.89	+1.9%
Average			-2.7%

Riyadh vs. Johannesburg - 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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