Cost of living comparison

Italy

compared to

South Africa

East London vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

East London is 50.9% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 49.1% less in East London
Groceries: pay 37.6% less in East London
Transportation: pay 22.1% less in East London
Housing: pay 68.0% less in East London
Childcare: pay 65.8% less in East London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.2% less in East London
Clothing: pay 16.4% less in East London

Expenses including housing, childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation are lower in East London.

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East London vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in East London instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 49.1% less for restaurants

	Rome	East London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.99	$9.31 ZAR153.86	-44.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.99	$5.71 ZAR94.30	-49.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.96 €2.64	$1.03 ZAR17.04	-65.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.48 €1.32	$0.75 ZAR12.31	-49.7%
Average			-49.1%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.6% less for groceries

	Rome	East London
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 €1.99	$0.91 ZAR15.10	-58.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.42 €6.63	$4.31 ZAR71.14	-42.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 €5.79	$4.34 ZAR71.76	-33.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.66 €4.16	$2.23 ZAR36.79	-52.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.66 €5.05	$2.43 ZAR40.07	-57.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.05	$0.68 ZAR11.26	-41.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.94	$0.68 ZAR11.25	-35.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.97	$0.75 ZAR12.38	-31.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.96	$0.67 ZAR11.03	-37.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$0.77 ZAR12.70	+19.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 €0.64	$0.63 ZAR10.47	-11.6%
Average			-37.6%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.1% less for transportation

	Rome	East London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.04 €7.18	$5.19 ZAR85.77	-35.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.19 €34.98	$46.57 ZAR769.31	+18.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,551.60 €31,734.00	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	-0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.16 €17.99	$5.05 ZAR83.38	-75.0%
Average			-22.1%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.0% less for housing

	Rome	East London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.87 €28.44	$43.66 ZAR721.33	+37.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,208.81 €1,079.00	$285.42 ZAR4,715.13	-76.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$873.39 €779.61	$250.37 ZAR4,136.08	-71.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.13 €140.26	$93.57 ZAR1,545.81	-40.5%
Average			-68.0%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of housing

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pay 65.8% less for childcare

	Rome	East London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$487.21 €434.89	$177.26 ZAR2,928.35	-63.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,862.20 €15,051.50	$5,407.94 ZAR89,339.37	-67.9%
Average			-65.8%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	East London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €5.00	$2.70 ZAR44.67	-51.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 €1.85	$2.10 ZAR34.74	+1.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.28 €6.50	$2.88 ZAR47.65	-60.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.43 €58.41	$39.06 ZAR645.23	-40.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.99	$4.66 ZAR76.93	-58.4%
Average			-44.2%

Rome vs. East London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.4% less for clothing

	Rome	East London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.31 €63.65	$57.05 ZAR942.53	-20.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.31 €32.41	$33.02 ZAR545.47	-9.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.63 €74.65	$72.11 ZAR1,191.19	-13.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.17 €109.94	$96.14 ZAR1,588.26	-21.9%
Average			-16.4%

Rome vs. East London - 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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