Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Portugal

Algarve vs. Stellenbosch Cost of Living Summary

Algarve is 50.5% more expensive than Stellenbosch.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Algarve
Groceries: pay 24.9% more in Algarve
Transportation: pay 18.5% more in Algarve
Housing: pay 59.7% more in Algarve
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in Algarve
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.4% more in Algarve
Clothing: pay 10.5% more in Algarve

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation in Algarve are more expensive than in Stellenbosch. Notably, childcare and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Algarve.

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Algarve vs. Stellenbosch Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Algarve instead of Stellenbosch, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.21 ZAR118.93	$16.80 €14.95	+132.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.81 ZAR79.29	$9.52 €8.47	+98.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.96 ZAR15.86	$1.94 €1.73	+101.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 ZAR12.22	$1.49 €1.33	+101.5%
Average			+113.8%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.9% more for groceries

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Bread 1 loaf	$1.13 ZAR18.58	$1.39 €1.24	+23.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.39 ZAR72.41	$6.43 €5.72	+46.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR82.36	$4.34 €3.87	-13.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.88 ZAR47.44	$3.94 €3.51	+37.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.63 ZAR43.46	$3.55 €3.16	+34.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.03	$1.01 €0.90	+27.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR10.79	$0.59 €0.53	-9.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 ZAR12.72	$0.80 €0.71	+3.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR11.69	$1.01 €0.90	+42.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 ZAR7.86	$0.82 €0.73	+72.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.24	$0.91 €0.81	+34.3%
Average			+24.9%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.5% more for transportation

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.30 ZAR87.50	$7.99 €7.11	+50.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$33,640.22 €29,941.00	-4.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.62 ZAR208.13	$12.52 €11.14	-0.8%
Average			+18.5%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.7% more for housing

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.05 ZAR561.70	$32.72 €29.12	-3.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$681.00 ZAR11,232.40	$1,063.00 €946.11	+56.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$480.71 ZAR7,928.76	$857.72 €763.40	+78.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$77.26 ZAR1,274.26	$115.60 €102.88	+49.6%
Average			+59.7%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$261.38 ZAR4,311.26	$663.19 €590.27	+153.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,343.44 ZAR38,652.68	$15,323.95 €13,638.87	+553.9%
Average			+307.3%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.70 ZAR44.60	$3.36 €2.99	+24.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.06 ZAR33.94	$3.03 €2.69	+47.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.47	$6.72 €5.98	+86.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.54 ZAR470.77	$36.95 €32.89	+29.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.71 ZAR143.71	$9.66 €8.60	+10.8%
Average			+31.4%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.5% more for clothing

	Stellenbosch	Algarve
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.84 ZAR871.52	$102.78 €91.47	+94.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.04 ZAR479.03	$45.72 €40.69	+57.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	$78.38 €69.76	-34.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	$67.18 €59.80	-25.5%
Average			+10.5%

Stellenbosch vs. Algarve - 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

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