Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Romania Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 0.4% cheaper than Romania overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.0% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 1.2% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 32.7% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 82.6% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 58.2% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.8% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 6.5% less in South Africa

The cost of housing, transportation, and groceries in South Africa are more expensive than in Romania. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in South Africa. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Romania Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Romania, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 34.0% less for restaurants

	Romania	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.04 RON44.12	$9.33 ZAR159.73	-7.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 RON32.85	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-31.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.94 RON8.52	$1.03 ZAR17.65	-46.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 RON7.09	$0.80 ZAR13.74	-50.3%
Average			-34.0%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.2% more for groceries

	Romania	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 RON5.19	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-15.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.01 RON17.63	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-3.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.61 RON24.64	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-22.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.05 RON13.38	$2.33 ZAR39.93	-23.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.90 RON12.74	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-26.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.23	$0.73 ZAR12.46	+43.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 RON3.06	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-6.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.70 RON3.09	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-2.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.93 RON4.09	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-23.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 RON1.73	$0.59 ZAR10.02	+49.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 RON1.82	$0.60 ZAR10.27	+44.6%
Average			+1.2%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.7% more for transportation

	Romania	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.02 RON26.45	$4.92 ZAR84.25	-18.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.52 RON103.31	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+138.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,339.27 RON120,090.50	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.08 RON31.10	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+31.9%
Average			+32.7%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.6% more for housing

	Romania	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.24 RON40.59	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+325.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$390.19 RON1,713.96	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	+3.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$289.13 RON1,270.02	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+25.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$116.41 RON511.34	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	-24.3%
Average			+82.6%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 58.2% less for childcare

	Romania	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$526.34 RON2,311.99	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-67.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,853.44 RON34,497.00	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-49.5%
Average			-58.2%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Romania	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.34 RON10.30	$2.18 ZAR37.27	-7.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.50 RON11.00	$2.05 ZAR35.06	-18.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.88 RON25.83	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.19 RON185.34	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-28.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.90 RON30.33	$6.85 ZAR117.19	-0.8%
Average			-20.8%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.5% less for clothing

	Romania	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.67 RON292.86	$50.74 ZAR868.31	-23.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.50 RON169.11	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-14.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.13 RON343.19	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	+20.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.57 RON389.07	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-7.7%
Average			-6.5%

Romania vs. South Africa - 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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