Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Suwon Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 5.5% cheaper than Suwon.

Restaurants: pay 36.7% more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 47.3% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 31.5% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 22.1% more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 67.1% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.8% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 14.7% more in Johannesburg

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

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Johannesburg vs. Suwon Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Suwon, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.7% more for restaurants

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ₩8,008	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+100.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,962	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-3.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 ₩2,092	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-23.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 ₩806	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+47.6%
Average			+36.7%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.3% less for groceries

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$2.61 ₩3,482	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-52.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 ₩7,462	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-22.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.87 ₩13,180	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-49.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.17 ₩4,237	$2.67 ZAR44.10	-15.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.18 ₩6,914	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-51.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.82 ₩3,764	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-66.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 ₩1,762	$0.83 ZAR13.71	-37.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.44 ₩3,251	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-66.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.95 ₩2,598	$0.94 ZAR15.50	-51.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58 ₩2,109	$0.76 ZAR12.57	-51.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 ₩1,604	$0.84 ZAR13.80	-30.4%
Average			-47.3%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.5% more for transportation

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.10 ₩6,811	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+13.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.40 ₩63,262	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+90.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,162.26 ₩38M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+25.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.92 ₩10,576	$8.05 ZAR132.81	+1.6%
Average			+31.5%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.1% more for housing

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.91 ₩23,910	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+100.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$435.40 ₩581K	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$348.32 ₩465K	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	+22.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.51 ₩190K	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+22.8%
Average			+22.1%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 67.1% less for childcare

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$691.66 ₩923K	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	-64.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,773.54 ₩24M	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	-69.2%
Average			-67.1%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,981	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-39.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.36 ₩4,483	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-27.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 ₩4,981	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-11.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.79 ₩58,446	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-16.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,944	$7.81 ZAR128.84	-30.2%
Average			-26.8%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.7% more for clothing

	Suwon	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.32 ₩49,812	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+54.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$106.98 ₩143K	$45.77 ZAR754.99	-57.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.37 ₩99,264	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+45.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$59.02 ₩78,770	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+79.4%
Average			+14.7%

Suwon vs. Johannesburg - 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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