Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Cook Islands

Cook Islands vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 24.0% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.3% more in Cook Islands
Groceries: pay 89.2% more in Cook Islands
Transportation: pay 33.7% less in Cook Islands
Housing: pay 10.4% more in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Cook Islands

The cost of entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and housing in Cook Islands are more expensive than in South Africa. Notably, entertainment and sports and groceries are significantly more expensive in Cook Islands.

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Cook Islands vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cook Islands instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 34.3% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR168.45	$14.01 NZ$24.77	+37.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.49	$5.60 NZ$9.91	-5.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.88	$2.24 NZ$3.96	+106.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.78	$2.24 NZ$3.96	+168.3%
Average			+34.3%

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 89.2% more for groceries

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.59	$2.80 NZ$4.95	+162.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.33	$3.64 NZ$6.44	-10.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.49	$10.60 NZ$18.75	+131.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.28	$6.05 NZ$10.70	+136.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.16	??
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.40	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.13	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR12.95	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.71	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.62	??
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.85	??
Average			+89.2%

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.7% less for transportation

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.53	$6.38 NZ$11.29	+16.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	$11,204.09 NZ$19,812.72	-65.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.20	??
Average			-33.7%

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.4% more for housing

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR642.17	$102.89 NZ$181.95	+164.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	$448.16 NZ$792.51	+6.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	$448.16 NZ$792.51	+21.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	$74.97 NZ$132.57	-29.0%
Average			+10.4%

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	??

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.13	$5.04 NZ$8.92	+124.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.18	$3.36 NZ$5.94	+49.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.13	$11.20 NZ$19.81	+254.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR521.05	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR120.70	??
Average			+108.7%

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	South Africa	Cook Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR868.55	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR562.92	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	??

South Africa vs. Cook Islands - 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: South Africa vs. Cook Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 12 statistics

Be 17.3% less likely to have internet access in Cook Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

South Africa is about 5,166 times bigger than Cook Islands.

Moving from South Africa to Cook Islands · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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