Cost of living comparison

compared to

Madagascar vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Madagascar is 15.9% cheaper than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.5% less in Madagascar
Groceries: pay 16.5% less in Madagascar
Transportation: pay 11.1% more in Madagascar
Housing: pay 28.1% less in Madagascar
Childcare: pay 22.4% more in Madagascar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.1% less in Madagascar
Clothing: pay 41.5% less in Madagascar

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

Madagascar vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.5% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Madagascar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR149.72	$3.04 MGA13,153	-67.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR82.01	$4.73 MGA20,456	-7.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR16.54	$0.82 MGA3,546	-20.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR12.88	$0.62 MGA2,692	-22.5%
Average			-29.5%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.5% less for groceries

	South Africa	Madagascar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR16.08	$0.88 MGA3,792	-12.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR62.30	$5.36 MGA23,190	+38.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR70.10	$3.89 MGA16,818	-11.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR37.42	$1.97 MGA8,523	-15.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR34.23	$2.63 MGA11,395	+23.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR11.68	$0.64 MGA2,772	-12.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR10.46	$0.33 MGA1,436	-49.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR10.96	$0.57 MGA2,448	-17.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR11.37	$0.41 MGA1,768	-42.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR9.39	$0.29 MGA1,240	-51.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR9.62	$0.40 MGA1,751	-32.5%
Average			-16.5%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.1% more for transportation

	South Africa	Madagascar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR78.97	$4.44 MGA19,202	-9.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR901.07	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR343K	$12,651.72 MGA55M	-40.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR149.78	$17.17 MGA74,261	+83.9%
Average			+11.1%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.1% less for housing

	South Africa	Madagascar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR631.29	$60.23 MGA261K	+53.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,482.67	$257.49 MGA1M	-36.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR5,799.87	$71.69 MGA310K	-80.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,413.57	$44.95 MGA194K	-49.0%
Average			-28.1%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of housing

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pay 22.4% more for childcare

	South Africa	Madagascar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,782.52	$46.54 MGA201K	-73.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR63,551.78	$8,634.52 MGA37M	+117.9%
Average			+22.4%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.1% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Madagascar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR34.93	$0.82 MGA3,531	-62.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR32.87	$1.33 MGA5,750	-35.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR47.54	$1.73 MGA7,499	-41.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR485.39	$29.94 MGA130K	-1.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR109.85	$6.47 MGA27,997	-5.5%
Average			-29.1%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.5% less for clothing

	South Africa	Madagascar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR813.91	$19.48 MGA84,237	-61.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR525.35	$17.20 MGA74,411	-47.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,510.82	$70.84 MGA306K	-24.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,311.99	$55.48 MGA240K	-32.2%
Average			-41.5%

South Africa vs. Madagascar - 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: February 2026

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