Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Russia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 5.7% more expensive than Russia overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.6% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 12.0% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 62.2% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 7.2% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 50.5% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.3% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 30.0% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Russia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6% less for restaurants

	Russia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 RUB894.72	$10.21 ZAR168.45	-5.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.39 RUB528.16	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-7.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 RUB95.62	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-6.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 RUB49.27	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+40.1%
Average			-2.6%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.0% more for groceries

	Russia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 RUB63.38	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+39.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.51 RUB455.14	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-25.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.39 RUB362.53	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+4.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.57 RUB129.78	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+63.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 RUB201.91	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-5.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 RUB69.40	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-3.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 RUB66.30	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-8.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB67.22	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-3.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 RUB109.55	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-41.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 RUB29.18	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+82.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB23.52	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+131.1%
Average			+12.0%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 62.2% more for transportation

	Russia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.08 RUB254.77	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+78.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.17 RUB1,997.57	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+169.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,081.81 RUB3M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+1.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.45 RUB450.28	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+34.8%
Average			+62.2%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.2% more for housing

	Russia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.47 RUB700.03	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+359.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$496.53 RUB41,028.91	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-15.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$335.29 RUB27,705.54	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+10.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$92.30 RUB7,626.55	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+14.4%
Average			+7.2%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 50.5% less for childcare

	Russia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$402.75 RUB33,279.52	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-50.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,958.40 RUB823K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-50.6%
Average			-50.5%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Russia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.06 RUB170.10	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+9.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.73 RUB225.71	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-17.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.85 RUB235.62	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+10.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.43 RUB3,092.83	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-15.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.26 RUB517.18	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+16.9%
Average			-1.3%

Russia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.0% less for clothing

	Russia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$83.60 RUB6,907.85	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-37.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.20 RUB4,561.14	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-38.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.97 RUB10,408.90	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	-20.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.42 RUB9,206.92	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	-22.3%
Average			-30.0%

Russia vs. South Africa - 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

Compare further: Russia vs. South Africa

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Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Russia is about 14 times bigger than South Africa.

Moving from Russia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

4,090 people born in Russia live in South Africa.

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