Cost of living comparison

compared to

Taiwan vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Taiwan is 50.8% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.3% less in Taiwan
Groceries: pay 97.8% more in Taiwan
Transportation: pay 0.7% more in Taiwan
Housing: pay 24.0% less in Taiwan
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Taiwan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.2% more in Taiwan
Clothing: pay 6.5% more in Taiwan

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

Taiwan vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.3% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Taiwan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$4.82 NT$151.22	-48.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$5.16 NT$161.99	+0.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.98 NT$30.70	-5.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.67 NT$21.02	-16.6%
Average			-17.3%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 97.8% more for groceries

	South Africa	Taiwan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$1.77 NT$55.47	+76.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$9.29 NT$291.60	+139.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$11.90 NT$373.42	+172.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$2.61 NT$82.06	+12.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$3.56 NT$111.70	+66.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$2.03 NT$63.63	+178.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$1.00 NT$31.34	+53.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$1.25 NT$39.17	+82.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$1.55 NT$48.61	+118.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$1.20 NT$37.82	+105.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$1.03 NT$32.24	+71.2%
Average			+97.8%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.7% more for transportation

	South Africa	Taiwan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$3.78 NT$118.78	-23.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$34.06 NT$1,069.33	-39.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$35,728.87 NT$1,121,597.24	+67.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$9.18 NT$288.18	-1.7%
Average			+0.7%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.0% less for housing

	South Africa	Taiwan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$21.10 NT$662.43	-46.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$429.29 NT$13,476.23	+6.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$295.73 NT$9,283.44	-18.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$54.85 NT$1,721.85	-37.8%
Average			-24.0%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Taiwan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$519.45 NT$16,306.62	+199.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$16,665.76 NT$523,169.72	+320.6%
Average			+260.0%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.2% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Taiwan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$1.97 NT$61.79	-9.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$3.00 NT$94.24	+46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$4.54 NT$142.65	+53.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$37.49 NT$1,176.73	+23.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$10.04 NT$315.31	+46.7%
Average			+32.2%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.5% more for clothing

	South Africa	Taiwan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$65.08 NT$2,043.13	+28.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$31.24 NT$980.69	-4.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$79.60 NT$2,498.69	-15.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$96.29 NT$3,022.88	+17.7%
Average			+6.5%

South Africa vs. Taiwan - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

South Africa vs.

United Kingdom

South Africa vs.

Ireland

South Africa vs.

Australia

South Africa vs.

Vietnam

South Africa vs.

Italy

South Africa vs.

Spain

South Africa vs.

Russia

South Africa vs.

Thailand

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Pretoria vs. Taipei

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for South Africa

Add prices for Taiwan

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Taiwan or South Africa. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.