Cost of living comparison

Chile

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 23.0% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 10.2% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 1.3% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 43.7% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 64.0% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 38.6% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.8% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 30.9% more in Cape Town

The cost of housing, transportation, and clothing in Cape Town are more expensive than in Santiago. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Cape Town.

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Cape Town vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.2% less for restaurants

	Santiago	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.23 CLF0.2500	$12.02 ZAR198.53	+17.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 CLF0.2200	$6.01 ZAR99.27	-30.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 CLF0.0400	$1.30 ZAR21.48	-23.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 CLF0.0300	$0.99 ZAR16.40	-20.4%
Average			-10.2%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.3% less for groceries

	Santiago	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 CLF0.0400	$1.23 ZAR20.38	-32.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.64 CLF0.1400	$4.39 ZAR72.52	-22.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.81 CLF0.1200	$4.99 ZAR82.49	+3.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.18 CLF0.1000	$3.14 ZAR51.87	-24.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.11 CLF0.0800	$3.07 ZAR50.73	-1.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 CLF0.0200	$0.85 ZAR14.01	-6.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 CLF0.0200	$0.87 ZAR14.38	+24.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 CLF0.0200	$0.77 ZAR12.74	+4.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 CLF0.0200	$0.95 ZAR15.73	+21.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 CLF0.0100	$0.70 ZAR11.53	+41.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 CLF0.0200	$0.68 ZAR11.31	+1.1%
Average			-1.3%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.7% more for transportation

	Santiago	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 CLF0.1400	$5.86 ZAR96.77	+1.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.93 CLF1.0100	$60.09 ZAR992.66	+46.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,743.12 CLF439.1400	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+99.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.37 CLF0.1800	$12.62 ZAR208.46	+71.3%
Average			+43.7%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.0% more for housing

	Santiago	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.07 CLF0.4700	$39.98 ZAR660.43	+109.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$552.81 CLF13.6800	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	+84.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$376.90 CLF9.3300	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	+87.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.86 CLF2.8200	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	-22.2%
Average			+64.0%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 38.6% less for childcare

	Santiago	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$432.52 CLF10.7000	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	-39.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,959.69 CLF271.2500	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-37.8%
Average			-38.6%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 CLF0.1000	$3.00 ZAR49.63	-26.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 CLF0.0800	$2.43 ZAR40.10	-25.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.22 CLF0.1300	$3.61 ZAR59.56	-30.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 CLF0.8400	$49.37 ZAR815.55	+45.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.52 CLF0.1900	$9.01 ZAR148.90	+19.8%
Average			-1.8%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.9% more for clothing

	Santiago	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.25 CLF1.2400	$55.49 ZAR916.75	+10.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 CLF0.7100	$32.30 ZAR533.55	+12.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$66.29 CLF1.6400	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	+80.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.84 CLF2.0000	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	+30.6%
Average			+30.9%

Santiago vs. Cape Town - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Santiago is about 1.2 times smaller than Cape Town.

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