Cost of living comparison

compared to

Serbia vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Serbia is 26.8% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 64.9% more in Serbia
Groceries: pay 4.9% more in Serbia
Transportation: pay 6.8% more in Serbia
Housing: pay 0.9% less in Serbia
Childcare: pay 61.1% more in Serbia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.7% more in Serbia
Clothing: pay 41.1% more in Serbia

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

Serbia vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.9% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Serbia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$8.22 RSD832	-11.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$9.48 RSD959	+85.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$2.10 RSD212	+103.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$1.47 RSD149	+83.2%
Average			+64.9%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.9% more for groceries

	South Africa	Serbia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$0.74 RSD75	-26.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$4.66 RSD471	+19.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$5.09 RSD515	+16.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$2.41 RSD244	+3.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$3.02 RSD306	+41.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$0.56 RSD57	-23.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.83 RSD84	+27.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.75 RSD76	+9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$0.98 RSD99	+38.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.45 RSD46	-22.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.42 RSD42	-30.6%
Average			+4.9%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.8% more for transportation

	South Africa	Serbia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$6.88 RSD696	+39.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$30.31 RSD3,068	-46.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$30,955.44 RSD3,132,624	+44.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$8.27 RSD837	-11.4%
Average			+6.8%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.9% less for housing

	South Africa	Serbia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$26.24 RSD2,656	-33.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$412.90 RSD41,785	+2.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$302.98 RSD30,661	-16.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$126.67 RSD12,819	+43.7%
Average			-0.9%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of housing

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pay 61.1% more for childcare

	South Africa	Serbia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$270.33 RSD27,357	+55.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$6,594.36 RSD667,335	+66.4%
Average			+61.1%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.7% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Serbia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.49 RSD252	+14.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$2.03 RSD205	-1.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$4.41 RSD447	+48.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$32.25 RSD3,263	+6.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$5.47 RSD553	-20.1%
Average			+9.7%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.1% more for clothing

	South Africa	Serbia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$78.65 RSD7,959	+55.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$49.57 RSD5,016	+51.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$107.57 RSD10,886	+14.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$117.74 RSD11,915	+43.9%
Average			+41.1%

South Africa vs. Serbia - 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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