Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Serbia

Serbia vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Serbia is 7.4% cheaper than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 25.4% more in Serbia
Groceries: pay 11.6% less in Serbia
Transportation: pay 14.4% less in Serbia
Housing: pay 20.6% less in Serbia
Childcare: pay 37.4% more in Serbia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.2% less in Serbia
Clothing: pay 31.3% more in Serbia

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

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Serbia vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.4% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Serbia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.21 ZAR169.26	$8.70 RSD913	-14.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.91 ZAR97.96	$9.63 RSD1,010	+62.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 ZAR17.96	$2.05 RSD215	+89.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ZAR13.84	$1.58 RSD165	+88.6%
Average			+25.4%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.6% less for groceries

	South Africa	Serbia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR17.68	$0.78 RSD82	-27.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.08 ZAR67.65	$4.54 RSD477	+11.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZAR75.86	$4.83 RSD507	+5.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 ZAR42.48	$2.32 RSD243	-9.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 ZAR38.34	$2.82 RSD296	+22.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 ZAR13.47	$0.56 RSD59	-31.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.19	$0.78 RSD82	+5.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.01	$0.72 RSD75	-8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.77	$1.00 RSD105	+29.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.68	$0.41 RSD43	-35.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR10.90	$0.32 RSD34	-50.7%
Average			-11.6%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.4% less for transportation

	South Africa	Serbia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 ZAR90.97	$6.92 RSD726	+26.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.15 ZAR1,079.75	$25.68 RSD2,694	-60.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,517.32 ZAR539K	$29,965.17 RSD3M	-7.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.35 ZAR121.78	$9.06 RSD951	+23.4%
Average			-14.4%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.6% less for housing

	South Africa	Serbia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.93 ZAR645.27	$26.71 RSD2,803	-31.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$421.37 ZAR6,983.69	$340.23 RSD35,700	-19.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$369.24 ZAR6,119.76	$248.38 RSD26,063	-32.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.57 ZAR1,749.66	$130.61 RSD13,705	+23.7%
Average			-20.6%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of housing

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pay 37.4% more for childcare

	South Africa	Serbia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.53 ZAR3,307.02	$258.66 RSD27,141	+29.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,917.78 ZAR81,505.89	$7,159.32 RSD751K	+45.6%
Average			+37.4%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.2% less for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Serbia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.31	$2.55 RSD268	+13.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ZAR37.36	$1.92 RSD201	-14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.16 ZAR52.38	$4.33 RSD455	+37.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.59 ZAR523.57	$29.21 RSD3,065	-7.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.32 ZAR121.28	$5.57 RSD584	-23.9%
Average			-6.2%

South Africa vs. Serbia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.3% more for clothing

	South Africa	Serbia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.66 ZAR872.75	$82.25 RSD8,630	+56.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.13 ZAR565.64	$45.18 RSD4,740	+32.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.75 ZAR1,653.25	$105.67 RSD11,088	+5.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.61 ZAR1,435.40	$117.40 RSD12,319	+35.6%
Average			+31.3%

South Africa vs. Serbia - 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. Serbia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Serbia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 2.3 times more money in Serbia

Size Comparison · See true size

South Africa is about 16 times bigger than Serbia.

Moving from South Africa to Serbia · UN DESA 2020

142 people born in South Africa live in Serbia.

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