Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Russia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 22.2% more expensive than Russia overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.9% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 12.6% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 74.5% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 45.7% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.2% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 17.1% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Russia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.9% more for restaurants

	Russia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.65 RUB750.26	$9.33 ZAR159.73	-3.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.53 RUB429.86	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-7.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 RUB82.04	$1.03 ZAR17.65	-2.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 RUB39.84	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+56.7%
Average			+10.9%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.6% more for groceries

	Russia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.63 RUB48.99	$1.00 ZAR17.16	+59.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.02 RUB390.35	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-22.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.22 RUB328.07	$4.37 ZAR74.79	+3.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 RUB124.25	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+45.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 RUB171.01	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-3.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 RUB61.35	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-7.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 RUB62.32	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-18.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB72.28	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-26.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 RUB97.49	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-43.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 RUB29.48	$0.59 ZAR10.02	+54.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.30 RUB23.55	$0.60 ZAR10.27	+98.0%
Average			+12.6%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 74.5% more for transportation

	Russia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.69 RUB209.35	$4.92 ZAR84.25	+82.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.72 RUB1,688.04	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+158.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,562.55 RUB2,452,945.27	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-32.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 RUB384.30	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+88.8%
Average			+74.5%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Russia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$7.57 RUB588.25	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+420.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$433.96 RUB33,726.17	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-6.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$300.84 RUB23,380.59	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+20.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.77 RUB6,432.37	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	+6.5%
Average			+110.0%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 45.7% less for childcare

	Russia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$300.70 RUB23,369.39	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-42.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,780.29 RUB604,660.71	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-49.1%
Average			-45.7%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Russia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 RUB132.06	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+28.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 RUB168.48	$2.05 ZAR35.06	-5.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.68 RUB208.50	$2.96 ZAR50.72	+10.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.84 RUB2,785.59	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-15.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.13 RUB398.32	$6.85 ZAR117.19	+33.6%
Average			+10.2%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.1% less for clothing

	Russia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.56 RUB4,861.67	$50.74 ZAR868.31	-18.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.72 RUB3,398.03	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-25.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 RUB7,999.61	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	-8.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.34 RUB7,564.61	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-16.0%
Average			-17.1%

Russia 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: November 2025

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