Cost of living comparison

compared to

Suriname vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Suriname is 13.2% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 36.8% more in Suriname
Groceries: pay 76.1% more in Suriname
Transportation: pay 52.4% more in Suriname
Housing: pay 26.8% less in Suriname
Childcare: pay 57.6% less in Suriname
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.8% more in Suriname
Clothing: pay 6.6% less in Suriname

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

Suriname vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 36.8% more for restaurants

	South Africa	Suriname
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$10.00 SRD384.84	+7.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$11.40 SRD438.80	+123.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$1.19 SRD45.81	+15.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.82 SRD31.42	+1.7%
Average			+36.8%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.1% more for groceries

	South Africa	Suriname
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$1.29 SRD49.69	+28.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$6.24 SRD239.95	+60.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$6.71 SRD258.10	+53.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$3.40 SRD130.81	+45.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$2.52 SRD97.09	+18.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$2.01 SRD77.27	+175.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.91 SRD35.12	+40.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$1.45 SRD55.73	+111.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$2.46 SRD94.60	+246.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.59 SRD22.70	+0.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.93 SRD35.82	+55.2%
Average			+76.1%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of groceries

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pay 52.4% more for transportation

	South Africa	Suriname
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$4.24 SRD163.04	-14.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$90.00 SRD3,463.56	+60.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$25,000.00 SRD962,100.00	+16.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$23.00 SRD885.13	+146.3%
Average			+52.4%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.8% less for housing

	South Africa	Suriname
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$29.19 SRD1,123.39	-25.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$504.53 SRD19,416.38	+24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$217.08 SRD8,354.15	-40.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$30.00 SRD1,154.37	-66.0%
Average			-26.8%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of housing

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pay 57.6% less for childcare

	South Africa	Suriname
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$63.03 SRD2,425.52	-63.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$1,921.93 SRD73,963.45	-51.5%
Average			-57.6%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.8% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Suriname
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$3.34 SRD128.35	+53.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$2.68 SRD103.03	+30.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$5.64 SRD217.22	+90.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$12.63 SRD485.91	-58.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$5.00 SRD192.42	-27.0%
Average			+17.8%

South Africa vs. Suriname - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.6% less for clothing

	South Africa	Suriname
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$36.30 SRD1,396.81	-28.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$28.44 SRD1,094.54	-13.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$75.41 SRD2,902.26	-19.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$110.56 SRD4,254.90	+35.2%
Average			-6.6%

South Africa vs. Suriname - 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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