Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 5.1% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 59.6% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 7.5% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 99.9% more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 23.9% less in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 77.2% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.4% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 5.3% less in Pretoria

The cost of transportation and restaurants in Pretoria are more expensive than in Shanghai. Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and clothing are lower in Pretoria. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Pretoria.

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Pretoria vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.6% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+101.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$5.41 ZAR89.20	+3.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+76.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+130.1%
Average			+59.6%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.5% less for groceries

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.10 ZAR18.21	-44.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$4.18 ZAR68.94	-51.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-35.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.47 ZAR40.74	+45.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+51.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$0.79 ZAR13.10	-20.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.74 ZAR12.22	-3.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.79 ZAR13.11	-12.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.72 ZAR11.92	-6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.50 ZAR8.18	+38.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.54 ZAR8.93	+25.0%
Average			-7.5%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 99.9% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+15.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$177.56 ZAR2,928.68	+495.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+82.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$6.55 ZAR108.03	+15.6%
Average			+99.9%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.9% less for housing

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+249.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$454.27 ZAR7,492.67	-56.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$405.14 ZAR6,682.45	-31.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$115.49 ZAR1,904.94	+162.1%
Average			-23.9%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 77.2% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-81.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$7,821.75 ZAR129K	-71.7%
Average			-77.2%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.55 ZAR42.12	+114.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-32.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$3.25 ZAR53.60	-12.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$31.49 ZAR519.46	-52.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-19.4%
Average			-16.4%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.3% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$53.03 ZAR874.71	-2.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$32.00 ZAR527.89	-13.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$91.85 ZAR1,515.02	+21.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$82.87 ZAR1,366.87	-21.6%
Average			-5.3%

Shanghai vs. Pretoria - 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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