Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 17.1% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 6.2% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 53.1% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 19.8% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 5.0% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 79.7% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.1% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 20.0% more in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.2% more for restaurants

	Seoul	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩11,955	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+34.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,962	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-19.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,112	$1.30 ZAR21.44	-17.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,049	$0.99 ZAR16.37	+26.3%
Average			+6.2%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.1% less for groceries

	Seoul	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,134	$1.23 ZAR20.34	-60.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩11,798	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-50.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,403	$4.99 ZAR82.36	-35.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,813	$3.14 ZAR51.78	-12.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,328	$3.07 ZAR50.65	-35.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,624	$0.85 ZAR13.99	-75.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,091	$0.87 ZAR14.35	-44.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,462	$0.77 ZAR12.72	-70.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,782	$0.95 ZAR15.70	-66.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,211	$0.70 ZAR11.51	-57.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,542	$0.68 ZAR11.29	-40.7%
Average			-53.1%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.8% more for transportation

	Seoul	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,384	$5.86 ZAR96.61	+5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩61,767	$60.09 ZAR991.09	+29.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩39M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+20.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,357	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+48.3%
Average			+19.8%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.0% more for housing

	Seoul	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩27,787	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+92.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+14.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩828K	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+13.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩217K	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	-45.6%
Average			+5.0%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 79.7% less for childcare

	Seoul	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-86.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩30M	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	-69.8%
Average			-79.7%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,981	$3.00 ZAR49.55	-19.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,473	$2.43 ZAR40.04	-40.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,483	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+7.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩77,707	$49.37 ZAR814.26	-15.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,944	$9.01 ZAR148.66	-19.5%
Average			-21.1%

Seoul vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.0% more for clothing

	Seoul	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩77,255	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-4.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩43,743	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-1.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩93,417	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+71.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩110K	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	+28.1%
Average			+20.0%

Seoul 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

Compare further: Seoul vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Seoul is about 4.1 times smaller than Cape Town.

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