Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iraq vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Iraq is 24.9% cheaper than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 37.6% less in Iraq
Groceries: pay 31.6% less in Iraq
Transportation: pay 13.2% less in Iraq
Housing: pay 26.8% less in Iraq
Childcare: pay 33.9% less in Iraq
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.2% more in Iraq
Clothing: pay 41.4% less in Iraq

Expenses including clothing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, housing, and transportation are lower in Iraq.

Iraq vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 37.6% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Iraq
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$4.66 IQD6,092	-50.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$6.78 IQD8,857	+32.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.40 IQD521	-61.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.23 IQD297	-71.7%
Average			-37.6%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.6% less for groceries

	South Africa	Iraq
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$0.76 IQD988	-24.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$2.55 IQD3,334	-34.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$4.46 IQD5,826	+2.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$1.69 IQD2,204	-27.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$1.98 IQD2,585	-7.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$0.47 IQD619	-35.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.51 IQD660	-22.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.43 IQD560	-37.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$0.31 IQD399	-57.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.29 IQD374	-51.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.28 IQD368	-53.1%
Average			-31.6%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.2% less for transportation

	South Africa	Iraq
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$2.08 IQD2,718	-57.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$37.40 IQD48,857	-33.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$15,792.71 IQD20,629,879	-26.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$15.36 IQD20,064	+64.5%
Average			-13.2%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.8% less for housing

	South Africa	Iraq
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$36.30 IQD47,412	-7.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$287.91 IQD376,094	-28.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$193.91 IQD253,307	-46.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$66.74 IQD87,177	-24.3%
Average			-26.8%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of housing

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pay 33.9% less for childcare

	South Africa	Iraq
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$138.70 IQD181,176	-20.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$2,066.25 IQD2,699,129	-47.8%
Average			-33.9%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.2% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Iraq
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.78 IQD3,628	+27.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$2.47 IQD3,225	+20.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$2.00 IQD2,606	-32.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$34.51 IQD45,081	+14.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$8.34 IQD10,890	+21.7%
Average			+10.2%

South Africa vs. Iraq - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.4% less for clothing

	South Africa	Iraq
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$25.03 IQD32,700	-50.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$27.73 IQD36,227	-15.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$50.80 IQD66,361	-46.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$38.19 IQD49,886	-53.3%
Average			-41.4%

South Africa vs. Iraq - 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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