Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cameroon vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Cameroon is 21.4% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.6% more in Cameroon
Groceries: pay 48.3% more in Cameroon
Transportation: pay 21.8% less in Cameroon
Housing: pay 38.0% more in Cameroon
Childcare: pay 78.3% more in Cameroon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.1% less in Cameroon
Clothing: pay 11.7% more in Cameroon

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

Cameroon vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.6% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Cameroon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR157.99	$5.36 FCFA3,017	-42.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR86.54	$5.65 FCFA3,181	+10.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.46	$1.58 FCFA890	+53.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.59	$0.68 FCFA386	-14.8%
Average			+1.6%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.3% more for groceries

	South Africa	Cameroon
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR16.97	$0.65 FCFA365	-35.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR65.75	$7.14 FCFA4,022	+83.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR73.98	$11.29 FCFA6,359	+158.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.49	$2.15 FCFA1,212	-7.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.12	$2.83 FCFA1,596	+32.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.33	$1.91 FCFA1,079	+162.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.04	$0.84 FCFA476	+29.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.57	$0.78 FCFA441	+14.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.00	$0.61 FCFA346	-13.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR9.91	$1.03 FCFA583	+76.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.16	$0.78 FCFA439	+29.9%
Average			+48.3%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.8% less for transportation

	South Africa	Cameroon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR83.33	$5.09 FCFA2,865	+3.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR950.86	$17.85 FCFA10,054	-68.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR362,135.06	$28,239.83 FCFA15,908,721	+32.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR158.05	$4.28 FCFA2,411	-54.2%
Average			-21.8%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.0% more for housing

	South Africa	Cameroon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR666.17	$116.51 FCFA65,636	+196.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,840.92	$375.37 FCFA211,459	-7.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,120.39	$259.21 FCFA146,023	-28.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,491.68	$80.43 FCFA45,311	-8.7%
Average			+38.0%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of housing

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pay 78.3% more for childcare

	South Africa	Cameroon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,936.29	$501.98 FCFA282,786	+189.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,063.83	$2,666.59 FCFA1,502,203	-32.7%
Average			+78.3%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.1% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Cameroon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR36.86	$1.16 FCFA653	-46.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR34.68	$2.31 FCFA1,301	+12.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.17	$2.68 FCFA1,509	-9.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR512.21	$25.01 FCFA14,091	-17.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR115.92	$8.92 FCFA5,027	+30.3%
Average			-6.1%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.7% more for clothing

	South Africa	Cameroon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR858.89	$46.05 FCFA25,939	-9.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR554.38	$50.16 FCFA28,260	+53.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,594.31	$82.49 FCFA46,468	-12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,384.49	$94.26 FCFA53,100	+15.2%
Average			+11.7%

South Africa vs. Cameroon - 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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