Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Serbia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 11.8% cheaper than Serbia overall.

Restaurants: pay 32.2% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 1.6% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 9.7% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 9.2% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 37.8% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.1% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 28.1% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Serbia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 32.2% less for restaurants

	Serbia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.22 RSD832	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+13.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.48 RSD959	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-46.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.10 RSD212	$1.03 ZAR17.65	-50.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 RSD149	$0.80 ZAR13.74	-45.4%
Average			-32.2%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.6% more for groceries

	Serbia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 RSD75	$1.00 ZAR17.16	+35.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.66 RSD471	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-16.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.09 RSD515	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-14.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 RSD244	$2.33 ZAR39.93	-3.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.02 RSD306	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-29.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.56 RSD57	$0.73 ZAR12.46	+30.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 RSD84	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-21.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RSD76	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 RSD99	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-27.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 RSD46	$0.59 ZAR10.02	+29.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 RSD42	$0.60 ZAR10.27	+44.2%
Average			+1.6%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.7% more for transportation

	Serbia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.88 RSD696	$4.92 ZAR84.25	-28.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.31 RSD3,068	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+85.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,955.44 RSD3,132,624	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-30.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.27 RSD837	$9.34 ZAR159.79	+12.9%
Average			+9.7%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.2% more for housing

	Serbia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.24 RSD2,656	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+50.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$412.90 RSD41,785	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-2.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$302.98 RSD30,661	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+19.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$126.67 RSD12,819	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	-30.4%
Average			+9.2%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 37.8% less for childcare

	Serbia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$270.33 RSD27,357	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-35.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,594.36 RSD667,335	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-39.9%
Average			-37.8%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Serbia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 RSD252	$2.18 ZAR37.27	-12.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.03 RSD205	$2.05 ZAR35.06	+1.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.41 RSD447	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-32.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.25 RSD3,263	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-6.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 RSD553	$6.85 ZAR117.19	+25.2%
Average			-5.1%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.1% less for clothing

	Serbia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.65 RSD7,959	$50.74 ZAR868.31	-35.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.57 RSD5,016	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-33.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$107.57 RSD10,886	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	-12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.74 RSD11,915	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	-30.5%
Average			-28.1%

Serbia 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: December 2025

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