Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

South Africa

Cape Town vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 48.5% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 43.0% less in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 43.1% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 15.4% less in Cape Town
Housing: pay 56.7% less in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 83.1% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.4% less in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 27.3% less in Cape Town

Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Cape Town.

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Cape Town vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Sydney, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.0% less for restaurants

	Sydney	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$24.92	$12.02 ZAR198.53	-31.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$16.95	$6.01 ZAR99.27	-49.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.02	$1.30 ZAR21.48	-53.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.17	$0.99 ZAR16.40	-55.2%
Average			-43.0%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.1% less for groceries

	Sydney	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.08	$1.23 ZAR20.38	-56.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.50	$4.39 ZAR72.52	-26.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.19	$4.99 ZAR82.49	-22.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.95	$3.14 ZAR51.87	-43.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.21	$3.07 ZAR50.73	-29.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.59	$0.85 ZAR14.01	-53.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.08	$0.87 ZAR14.38	-40.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.23	$0.77 ZAR12.74	-50.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.84	$0.95 ZAR15.73	-51.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.11	$0.70 ZAR11.53	-52.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.53	$0.68 ZAR11.31	-36.0%
Average			-43.1%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.4% less for transportation

	Sydney	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.73	$5.86 ZAR96.77	+8.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$216.72	$60.09 ZAR992.66	-60.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,371.65	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+22.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.25	$12.62 ZAR208.46	-22.3%
Average			-15.4%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.7% less for housing

	Sydney	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$80.49	$39.98 ZAR660.43	-28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,604.41	$1,017.49 ZAR16,809.04	-59.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,496.65	$706.64 ZAR11,673.68	-59.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$241.21	$88.53 ZAR1,462.58	-47.4%
Average			-56.7%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 83.1% less for childcare

	Sydney	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,143.91	$262.39 ZAR4,334.61	-88.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,723.26	$6,820.14 ZAR113K	-76.0%
Average			-83.1%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$10.97	$3.00 ZAR49.63	-60.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.69	$2.43 ZAR40.10	-38.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$63.79	$3.61 ZAR59.56	-91.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$107.79	$49.37 ZAR815.55	-34.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$24.92	$9.01 ZAR148.90	-48.2%
Average			-55.4%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.3% less for clothing

	Sydney	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$112.65	$55.49 ZAR916.75	-29.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$99.69	$32.30 ZAR533.55	-53.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$159.51	$119.84 ZAR1,979.80	+7.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$190.77	$105.58 ZAR1,744.24	-20.8%
Average			-27.3%

Sydney vs. Cape Town - 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

Compare further: Sydney vs. Cape Town

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Size Comparison · See true size

Sydney is about 1.6 times bigger than Cape Town.

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