Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Italy

Italy vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Italy is 54.1% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 93.6% more in Italy
Groceries: pay 60.5% more in Italy
Transportation: pay 15.0% more in Italy
Housing: pay 54.7% more in Italy
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Italy
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.1% more in Italy
Clothing: pay 28.4% more in Italy

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

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Italy vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 93.6% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Italy
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR168.45	$18.81 €16.74	+84.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.49	$11.59 €10.31	+96.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.88	$2.95 €2.62	+171.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.78	$1.38 €1.23	+65.5%
Average			+93.6%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.5% more for groceries

	South Africa	Italy
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.59	$2.19 €1.95	+105.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.33	$8.58 €7.64	+110.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.49	$5.84 €5.20	+27.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.28	$4.02 €3.58	+57.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.16	$5.65 €5.02	+144.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.40	$1.15 €1.02	+41.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.13	$0.96 €0.85	+30.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR12.95	$1.19 €1.06	+51.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.71	$1.45 €1.29	+88.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.62	$0.86 €0.76	+33.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.85	$0.81 €0.72	+23.7%
Average			+60.5%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.0% more for transportation

	South Africa	Italy
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.53	$7.75 €6.90	+41.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	$43.51 €38.72	-33.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	$34,598.57 €30,793.97	+6.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.20	$20.27 €18.04	+175.8%
Average			+15.0%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.7% more for housing

	South Africa	Italy
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR642.17	$30.01 €26.71	-22.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	$723.52 €643.96	+71.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	$562.80 €500.92	+52.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	$162.38 €144.52	+53.8%
Average			+54.7%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Italy
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	$542.33 €482.69	+171.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	$10,535.75 €9,377.19	+114.2%
Average			+141.3%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.1% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Italy
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.13	$5.64 €5.02	+150.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.18	$1.96 €1.74	-13.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.13	$6.73 €5.99	+112.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR521.05	$55.93 €49.78	+77.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR120.70	$10.26 €9.13	+40.2%
Average			+58.1%

South Africa vs. Italy - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.4% more for clothing

	South Africa	Italy
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR868.55	$86.42 €76.92	+64.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR562.92	$38.24 €34.03	+12.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	$99.86 €88.88	+0.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	$127.82 €113.76	+47.6%
Average			+28.4%

South Africa vs. Italy - 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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