Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Sierra Leone Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 47.9% more expensive than Sierra Leone overall.

Restaurants: pay 38.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 10.2% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 21.1% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 55.4% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.6% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 3.9 times more in South Africa

The cost of clothing, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment and sports in South Africa are more expensive than in Sierra Leone. Expenses including housing and groceries are lower in South Africa. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Sierra Leone Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Sierra Leone, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.2% more for restaurants

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.00 SLL62,908	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+211.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00 SLL209,695	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-48.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 SLL21,591	$1.03 ZAR17.65	+0.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 SLL18,596	$0.80 ZAR13.74	-9.4%
Average			+38.2%

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.2% less for groceries

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.67 SLL13,980	$1.00 ZAR17.16	+50.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$3.88 ZAR66.47	+9.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL191,910	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-52.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 SLL42,124	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+16.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 SLL71,337	$2.13 ZAR36.52	-37.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 SLL38,046	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-59.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-28.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.68 ZAR11.70	+112.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-68.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-35.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-18.8%
Average			-10.2%

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% more for transportation

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105,180	$4.92 ZAR84.25	-1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$56.18 ZAR961.29
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL251,634,000	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	+78.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.75 SLL225,422	$9.34 ZAR159.79	-13.1%
Average			+21.1%

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.4% less for housing

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$100.00 SLL2,096,950	$39.36 ZAR673.48	-60.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,321.25 SLL27,705,952	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-69.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26,456,519	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	-71.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$110.40 SLL2,314,990	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	-20.2%
Average			-55.4%

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 SLL31,454	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+45.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.74 SLL36,435	$2.05 ZAR35.06	+17.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-1.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.00 SLL1,048,475	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-39.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.85 ZAR117.19
Average			+5.6%

Sierra Leone vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.9 times more for clothing

	Sierra Leone	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL209,695	$50.74 ZAR868.31	+407.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$8.00 SLL167,756	$32.75 ZAR560.46	+309.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419,390	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	+371.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1,048,475	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	+63.6%
Average			+287.8%

Sierra Leone 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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