Cost of living comparison

compared to

Saint Lucia vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Saint Lucia is 51.8% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.3% more in Saint Lucia
Groceries: pay 2.6 times more in Saint Lucia
Transportation: pay 26.4% more in Saint Lucia
Housing: pay 4.2% more in Saint Lucia
Childcare: pay 14.6% more in Saint Lucia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 87.2% more in Saint Lucia
Clothing: pay 34.4% more in Saint Lucia

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

Saint Lucia vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Lucia instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.3% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR157.99	$7.40 EC$20.00	-20.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR86.54	$7.40 EC$20.00	+44.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.46	$1.94 EC$5.25	+88.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.59	$0.97 EC$2.63	+20.9%
Average			+33.3%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6 times more for groceries

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR16.97	$1.67 EC$4.52	+66.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR65.75	$5.61 EC$15.17	+44.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR73.98	$7.76 EC$20.96	+77.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.49	$4.24 EC$11.46	+81.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.12	$4.41 EC$11.93	+106.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.33	$3.43 EC$9.27	+370.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.04	$0.75 EC$2.04	+15.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.57	$2.86 EC$7.72	+318.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.00	$3.01 EC$8.13	+324.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR9.91	$2.62 EC$7.09	+347.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.16	$0.78 EC$2.12	+30.8%
Average			+162.2%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.4% more for transportation

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR83.33	$5.85 EC$15.82	+18.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR950.86	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR362,135.06	$28,676.62 EC$77,500.00	+34.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR158.05	??
Average			+26.4%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.2% more for housing

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR666.17	$41.07 EC$111.00	+4.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,840.92	$461.11 EC$1,246.17	+14.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,120.39	$391.61 EC$1,058.33	+8.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,491.68	$79.23 EC$214.12	-10.1%
Average			+4.2%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of housing

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pay 14.6% more for childcare

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,936.29	$198.89 EC$537.50	+14.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,063.83	??
Average			+14.6%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of childcare

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pay 87.2% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR36.86	$3.89 EC$10.51	+78.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR34.68	$3.70 EC$10.00	+80.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.17	$9.25 EC$25.00	+212.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR512.21	$49.03 EC$132.50	+62.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR115.92	$7.03 EC$19.00	+2.7%
Average			+87.2%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.4% more for clothing

	South Africa	Saint Lucia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR858.89	$50.57 EC$136.67	-0.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR554.38	$53.96 EC$145.83	+64.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,594.31	$107.92 EC$291.67	+14.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,384.49	$129.51 EC$350.00	+58.3%
Average			+34.4%

South Africa vs. Saint Lucia - 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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