Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Mongolia

Mongolia vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Mongolia is 0.6% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.8% less in Mongolia
Groceries: pay 15.5% more in Mongolia
Transportation: pay 40.7% less in Mongolia
Housing: pay 4.4% more in Mongolia
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Mongolia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.0% more in Mongolia
Clothing: pay 46.5% more in Mongolia

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

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Mongolia vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.8% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Mongolia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR169.26	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	-45.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.96	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	-6.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.96	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	-20.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.84	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	-29.3%
Average			-29.8%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.5% more for groceries

	South Africa	Mongolia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.68	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	-6.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.65	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	+51.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.86	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	+19.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.48	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	-17.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.34	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	-4.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.47	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	+71.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.19	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	+48.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.01	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	+115.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.77	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	+78.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.68	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	-48.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.90	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	-26.9%
Average			+15.5%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of groceries

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pay 40.7% less for transportation

	South Africa	Mongolia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.97	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	-21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,079.75	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	-74.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR539K	$26,896.36 MNT97M	-17.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.78	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	-33.8%
Average			-40.7%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.4% more for housing

	South Africa	Mongolia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR645.27	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	-65.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,983.69	$569.30 MNT2M	+35.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,119.76	$444.50 MNT2M	+20.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,749.66	$54.38 MNT196K	-48.5%
Average			+4.4%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Mongolia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,307.02	$817.79 MNT3M	+309.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,505.89	$8,262.71 MNT30M	+68.0%
Average			+162.4%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.0% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Mongolia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.31	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	+4.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.36	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	+7.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.38	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-46.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR523.57	$67.73 MNT244K	+114.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR121.28	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	-43.0%
Average			+1.0%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 46.5% more for clothing

	South Africa	Mongolia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR872.75	$81.73 MNT294K	+55.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR565.64	$45.38 MNT163K	+33.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,653.25	$102.93 MNT370K	+3.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,435.40	$187.55 MNT675K	+116.6%
Average			+46.5%

South Africa vs. Mongolia - 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. Mongolia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 83.9% less likely to be unemployed in Mongolia

Size Comparison · See true size

South Africa is about 1.3 times smaller than Mongolia.

Moving from South Africa to Mongolia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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