Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 61.6% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.1% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 3.4% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 5.4% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.4% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 22.3% more in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.1% more for restaurants

	South Africa	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR156.62	$6.72 ₩9,920	-28.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR85.79	$5.50 ₩8,112	+7.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.31	$1.47 ₩2,164	+42.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.48	$0.82 ₩1,217	+2.7%
Average			+6.1%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	South Africa	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR16.83	$2.87 ₩4,241	+186.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR65.18	$5.63 ₩8,301	+44.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR73.33	$7.67 ₩11,326	+75.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.15	$2.84 ₩4,186	+21.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR35.81	$3.34 ₩4,923	+56.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.22	$3.24 ₩4,775	+344.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR10.94	$1.39 ₩2,048	+112.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.47	$2.80 ₩4,127	+309.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR11.90	$2.40 ₩3,548	+239.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR9.82	$1.78 ₩2,630	+204.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.07	$1.20 ₩1,777	+100.7%
Average			+154.1%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.4% less for transportation

	South Africa	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR82.61	$4.40 ₩6,494	-10.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR942.59	$47.17 ₩69,616	-16.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR358,983.82	$26,440.41 ₩39,019,698	+23.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR156.68	$8.33 ₩12,296	-10.8%
Average			-3.4%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4% more for housing

	South Africa	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR660.38	$21.68 ₩32,001	-44.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,781.39	$473.91 ₩699,370	+17.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,067.13	$357.19 ₩527,120	-1.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,478.70	$132.53 ₩195,586	+50.4%
Average			+5.4%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	South Africa	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,910.74	$378.52 ₩558,610	+118.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR66,480.25	$15,055.40 ₩22,218,164	+280.0%
Average			+199.1%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.4% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR36.54	$3.12 ₩4,602	+43.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR34.38	$3.57 ₩5,265	+74.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR49.73	$3.18 ₩4,699	+7.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR507.76	$49.86 ₩73,581	+64.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR114.91	$10.12 ₩14,932	+47.7%
Average			+47.4%

South Africa vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.3% more for clothing

	South Africa	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR851.41	$66.46 ₩98,079	+31.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR549.56	$50.68 ₩74,796	+54.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,580.44	$72.74 ₩107,346	-22.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,372.44	$103.23 ₩152,349	+26.2%
Average			+22.3%

South Africa vs. South Korea - 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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