Cost of living comparison

Macedonia

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Skopje Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 38.7% more expensive than Skopje.

Restaurants: pay 1.2% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 29.8% more in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 30.5% more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 93.3% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 5.8% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.7% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 10.7% less in Cape Town

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

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Cape Town vs. Skopje Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.2% more for restaurants

	Skopje	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.58 MKD525.47	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+25.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.45 MKD353.80	$6.01 ZAR99.11	-6.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 MKD100.43	$1.30 ZAR21.44	-29.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MKD73.75	$0.99 ZAR16.37	-26.2%
Average			+1.2%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.8% more for groceries

	Skopje	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 MKD42.21	$1.23 ZAR20.34	+60.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.98 MKD218.01	$4.39 ZAR72.41	+10.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.76 MKD261.02	$4.99 ZAR82.36	+4.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.46 MKD134.98	$3.14 ZAR51.78	+27.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.35 MKD183.84	$3.07 ZAR50.65	-8.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.66 MKD36.01	$0.85 ZAR13.99	+29.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MKD35.19	$0.87 ZAR14.35	+35.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 MKD33.45	$0.77 ZAR12.72	+26.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 MKD47.64	$0.95 ZAR15.70	+9.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 MKD21.34	$0.70 ZAR11.51	+79.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 MKD20.09	$0.68 ZAR11.29	+86.8%
Average			+29.8%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.5% more for transportation

	Skopje	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.00 MKD328.99	$5.86 ZAR96.61	-2.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.26 MKD1,494.95	$60.09 ZAR991.09	+120.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,440.15 MKD2M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	-0.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 MKD318.92	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+117.0%
Average			+30.5%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 93.3% more for housing

	Skopje	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.00 MKD1,041.93	$39.98 ZAR659.39	+110.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$418.20 MKD22,932.64	$1,017.49 ZAR16,782.53	+143.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$324.42 MKD17,790.03	$706.64 ZAR11,655.27	+117.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$119.51 MKD6,553.79	$88.53 ZAR1,460.27	-25.9%
Average			+93.3%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 5.8% less for childcare

	Skopje	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$355.23 MKD19,479.61	$262.39 ZAR4,327.78	-26.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,681.18 MKD312K	$6,820.14 ZAR112K	+20.0%
Average			-5.8%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Skopje	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 MKD149.49	$3.00 ZAR49.55	+10.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.09 MKD114.88	$2.43 ZAR40.04	+15.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 MKD189.36	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.17 MKD2,092.93	$49.37 ZAR814.26	+29.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.27 MKD398.65	$9.01 ZAR148.66	+24.0%
Average			+18.7%

Skopje vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.7% less for clothing

	Skopje	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.15 MKD4,614.40	$55.49 ZAR915.30	-34.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.88 MKD2,022.17	$32.30 ZAR532.71	-12.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.78 MKD5,581.14	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+17.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.67 MKD6,178.55	$105.58 ZAR1,741.49	-6.3%
Average			-10.7%

Skopje 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

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