Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Romania Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 9.4% more expensive than Romania overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.6% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 13.9% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 29.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 26.2% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 46.6% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.7% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 1.8% more in South Africa

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

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

South Africa vs. Romania Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.6% less for restaurants

	Romania	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.82 RON46.44	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+4.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.22 RON34.13	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-18.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.87 RON8.86	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-42.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 RON7.43	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-46.8%
Average			-15.6%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.9% more for groceries

	Romania	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 RON5.19	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-2.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 RON17.78	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+8.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.36 RON25.36	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-14.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 RON13.77	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-11.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.69 RON12.72	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-14.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.42	$0.81 ZAR13.40	+59.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 RON3.18	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+9.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 RON3.08	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+20.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 RON4.19	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-12.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 RON1.66	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+83.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.70	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+82.9%
Average			+13.9%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.6% more for transportation

	Romania	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.55 RON30.98	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-16.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.38 RON110.58	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+178.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,083.66 RON128K	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+20.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.64 RON31.43	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+10.6%
Average			+29.6%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.2% more for housing

	Romania	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.56 RON40.50	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+354.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$371.73 RON1,758.50	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+13.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$281.26 RON1,330.53	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+31.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.14 RON506.84	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-1.5%
Average			+26.2%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.6% less for childcare

	Romania	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$482.75 RON2,283.68	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-58.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,125.14 RON33,706.19	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-31.0%
Average			-46.6%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Romania	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 RON10.31	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+3.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.45 RON11.57	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-7.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.71 RON27.03	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-44.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.73 RON183.19	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-18.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.13 RON33.75	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+2.6%
Average			-10.7%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.8% more for clothing

	Romania	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.00 RON293.30	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-15.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.53 RON168.09	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-3.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.18 RON365.11	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+29.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$85.19 RON402.98	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+1.7%
Average			+1.8%

Romania vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Romania vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 5.4 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Romania is about 5 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Romania to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

1,948 people born in Romania live in South Africa.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Bucharest vs Johannesburg

More cost comparisons

Romania vs.

United States

Romania vs.

Bulgaria

Romania vs.

Italy

Romania vs.

Germany

Romania vs.

Spain

Romania vs.

United Kingdom

Romania vs.

Hungary

Romania vs.

France

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Bucharest vs. Pretoria

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Romania

Add prices for South Africa

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about South Africa or Romania. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.