Cost of living comparison

compared to

Macedonia vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Macedonia is 3.9% cheaper than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 18.7% more in Macedonia
Groceries: pay 6.9% less in Macedonia
Transportation: pay 5.6% less in Macedonia
Housing: pay 28.7% less in Macedonia
Childcare: pay 8.8% less in Macedonia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.3% less in Macedonia
Clothing: pay 9.0% more in Macedonia

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

Macedonia vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.7% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Macedonia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$5.93 MKD314.42	-36.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$5.13 MKD272.13	+0.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$1.65 MKD87.58	+60.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$1.21 MKD64.23	+50.8%
Average			+18.7%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.9% less for groceries

	South Africa	Macedonia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$0.70 MKD37.37	-29.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$4.16 MKD220.78	+7.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$4.90 MKD259.75	+12.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$2.07 MKD109.74	-11.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$2.97 MKD157.41	+39.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$0.46 MKD24.23	-37.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.65 MKD34.40	-0.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.58 MKD30.80	-15.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$0.78 MKD41.30	+9.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.42 MKD22.15	-28.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.47 MKD24.83	-22.0%
Average			-6.9%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.6% less for transportation

	South Africa	Macedonia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$5.62 MKD298.17	+14.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$28.53 MKD1,513.35	-49.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$32,601.38 MKD1,729,361.57	+52.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$5.62 MKD298.10	-39.8%
Average			-5.6%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.7% less for housing

	South Africa	Macedonia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$15.96 MKD846.69	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$275.82 MKD14,630.81	-31.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$206.61 MKD10,959.50	-42.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$105.17 MKD5,578.57	+19.3%
Average			-28.7%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of housing

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pay 8.8% less for childcare

	South Africa	Macedonia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$236.18 MKD12,528.29	+36.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$1,837.42 MKD97,467.05	-53.6%
Average			-8.8%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.3% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Macedonia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.14 MKD113.35	-1.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$1.74 MKD92.40	-15.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$3.09 MKD164.10	+4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$33.20 MKD1,761.18	+9.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$5.21 MKD276.60	-23.9%
Average			-5.3%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.0% more for clothing

	South Africa	Macedonia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$59.62 MKD3,162.33	+17.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$36.53 MKD1,937.58	+11.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$80.57 MKD4,274.00	-14.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$99.36 MKD5,270.54	+21.5%
Average			+9.0%

South Africa vs. Macedonia - 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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