Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Denmark

Denmark vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Denmark is 2.0 times more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Denmark
Groceries: pay 92.9% more in Denmark
Transportation: pay 61.6% more in Denmark
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Denmark
Childcare: pay 93.4% more in Denmark
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Denmark
Clothing: pay 60.9% more in Denmark

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

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Denmark vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	South Africa	Denmark
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR168.45	$20.73 DKK137.87	+103.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.49	$13.74 DKK91.38	+132.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.88	$3.88 DKK25.80	+258.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.78	$3.06 DKK20.36	+266.4%
Average			+139.0%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of restaurants

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pay 92.9% more for groceries

	South Africa	Denmark
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.59	$3.38 DKK22.50	+217.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.33	$7.11 DKK47.26	+74.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.49	$7.62 DKK50.71	+66.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.28	$4.86 DKK32.33	+89.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.16	$5.50 DKK36.57	+137.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.40	$1.38 DKK9.21	+70.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.13	$1.33 DKK8.88	+81.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR12.95	$1.62 DKK10.78	+106.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.71	$2.05 DKK13.65	+166.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.62	$0.96 DKK6.39	+49.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.85	$0.86 DKK5.73	+30.9%
Average			+92.9%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of groceries

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pay 61.6% more for transportation

	South Africa	Denmark
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.53	$8.78 DKK58.40	+60.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	$90.81 DKK604.01	+39.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	$49,082.02 DKK326K	+50.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.20	$21.81 DKK145.04	+196.8%
Average			+61.6%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	South Africa	Denmark
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR642.17	$38.53 DKK256.26	-1.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	$1,094.37 DKK7,278.85	+159.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	$864.45 DKK5,749.63	+134.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	$148.64 DKK988.66	+40.8%
Average			+116.6%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of housing

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pay 93.4% more for childcare

	South Africa	Denmark
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	$546.22 DKK3,633.05	+173.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	$6,716.94 DKK44,675.71	+36.6%
Average			+93.4%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Denmark
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.13	$7.87 DKK52.35	+249.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.18	$6.26 DKK41.61	+177.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.13	$9.31 DKK61.90	+194.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR521.05	$43.88 DKK291.83	+38.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR120.70	$18.38 DKK122.25	+151.2%
Average			+139.9%

South Africa vs. Denmark - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 60.9% more for clothing

	South Africa	Denmark
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR868.55	$105.11 DKK699.09	+99.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR562.92	$45.60 DKK303.29	+33.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	$123.67 DKK822.54	+24.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	$175.51 DKK1,167.36	+102.7%
Average			+60.9%

South Africa vs. Denmark - 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. Denmark

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Size Comparison · See true size

South Africa is about 28 times bigger than Denmark.

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164 people moved from South Africa to Denmark.

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