Cost of living comparison

compared to

Papua New Guinea vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 86.2% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 18.2% more in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 24.7% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 3.4 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.9% more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 6.7% less in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in South Africa. Notably, housing, childcare, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.2% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$17.87 PGK76.59	+91.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$5.92 PGK25.38	+15.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.80 PGK3.44	-22.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.70 PGK3.02	-12.3%
Average			+18.2%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$1.55 PGK6.66	+54.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$3.60 PGK15.44	-7.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$7.76 PGK33.26	+77.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$4.00 PGK17.16	+71.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$3.63 PGK15.56	+70.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$1.99 PGK8.52	+173.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$1.32 PGK5.66	+102.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$2.73 PGK11.72	+300.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$1.62 PGK6.96	+129.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$1.58 PGK6.78	+170.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$1.18 PGK5.06	+96.9%
Average			+112.6%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% more for transportation

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$4.22 PGK18.07	-14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$23.69 PGK101.54	-57.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$22,387.96 PGK95,952.53	+4.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$24.88 PGK106.61	+166.4%
Average			+24.7%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.4 times more for housing

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$165.84 PGK710.76	+321.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$2,652.44 PGK11,368.07	+556.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$758.54 PGK3,251.04	+109.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$80.08 PGK343.20	-9.1%
Average			+244.6%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$631.76 PGK2,707.66	+264.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$3,968.24 PGK17,007.46	+0.2%
Average			+132.2%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.9% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.98 PGK12.75	+36.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$2.56 PGK10.96	+24.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$6.96 PGK29.82	+134.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$73.52 PGK315.10	+143.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$10.30 PGK44.14	+50.4%
Average			+77.9%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.7% less for clothing

	South Africa	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$31.15 PGK133.52	-38.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$36.48 PGK156.37	+11.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$76.40 PGK327.46	-18.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$97.73 PGK418.84	+19.5%
Average			-6.7%

South Africa vs. Papua New Guinea - 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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