Cost of living comparison

Serbia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Serbia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 7.9% more expensive than Serbia overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.2% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 13.1% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 16.8% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 26.0% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 27.2% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.6% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 23.8% less in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Serbia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.2% less for restaurants

	Serbia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.70 RSD913	$10.21 ZAR169.26	+17.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.63 RSD1,010	$5.91 ZAR97.96	-38.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.05 RSD215	$1.08 ZAR17.96	-47.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 RSD165	$0.84 ZAR13.84	-47.0%
Average			-20.2%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.1% more for groceries

	Serbia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.78 RSD82	$1.07 ZAR17.68	+37.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.54 RSD477	$4.08 ZAR67.65	-10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 RSD507	$4.58 ZAR75.86	-5.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.32 RSD243	$2.56 ZAR42.48	+10.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.82 RSD296	$2.31 ZAR38.34	-18.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.56 RSD59	$0.81 ZAR13.47	+45.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 RSD82	$0.74 ZAR12.19	-5.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 RSD75	$0.79 ZAR13.01	+9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 RSD105	$0.77 ZAR12.77	-22.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RSD43	$0.64 ZAR10.68	+55.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RSD34	$0.66 ZAR10.90	+102.9%
Average			+13.1%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.8% more for transportation

	Serbia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.92 RSD726	$5.49 ZAR90.97	-20.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.68 RSD2,694	$65.15 ZAR1,079.75	+153.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,965.17 RSD3M	$32,517.32 ZAR539K	+8.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.06 RSD951	$7.35 ZAR121.78	-18.9%
Average			+16.8%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.0% more for housing

	Serbia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.71 RSD2,803	$38.93 ZAR645.27	+45.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$340.23 RSD35,700	$421.37 ZAR6,983.69	+23.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$248.38 RSD26,063	$369.24 ZAR6,119.76	+48.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$130.61 RSD13,705	$105.57 ZAR1,749.66	-19.2%
Average			+26.0%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 27.2% less for childcare

	Serbia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$258.66 RSD27,141	$199.53 ZAR3,307.02	-22.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,159.32 RSD751K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,505.89	-31.3%
Average			-27.2%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Serbia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.55 RSD268	$2.25 ZAR37.31	-11.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.92 RSD201	$2.25 ZAR37.36	+17.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.33 RSD455	$3.16 ZAR52.38	-27.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.21 RSD3,065	$31.59 ZAR523.57	+8.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.57 RSD584	$7.32 ZAR121.28	+31.4%
Average			+6.6%

Serbia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.8% less for clothing

	Serbia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$82.25 RSD8,630	$52.66 ZAR872.75	-36.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.18 RSD4,740	$34.13 ZAR565.64	-24.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.67 RSD11,088	$99.75 ZAR1,653.25	-5.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.40 RSD12,319	$86.61 ZAR1,435.40	-26.2%
Average			-23.8%

Serbia 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: Serbia vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 4.5 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Serbia is about 16 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Serbia to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

4,670 people born in Serbia live in South Africa.

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