Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Syria Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 75.4% more expensive than Syria overall.

Restaurants: pay 24.3% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 42.4% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 91.5% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 64.4% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 20.7% more in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Syria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 24.3% more for restaurants

	Syria	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.33 SYP69,344	$9.33 ZAR157.99	+75.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.50 SYP58,509	$5.11 ZAR86.54	+13.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 SYP14,747	$1.03 ZAR17.46	-9.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 SYP8,862	$0.80 ZAR13.59	+17.8%
Average			+24.3%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.4% more for groceries

	Syria	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.64 SYP8,333	$1.00 ZAR16.97	+56.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.85 SYP24,087	$3.88 ZAR65.75	+109.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.81 SYP49,537	$4.37 ZAR73.98	+14.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 SYP25,252	$2.33 ZAR39.49	+20.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.09 SYP40,163	$2.13 ZAR36.12	-30.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.63 SYP8,224	$0.73 ZAR12.33	+15.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 SYP10,067	$0.65 ZAR11.04	-15.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 SYP7,896	$0.68 ZAR11.57	+12.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 SYP4,046	$0.71 ZAR12.00	+127.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 SYP4,002	$0.59 ZAR9.91	+90.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.36 SYP4,700	$0.60 ZAR10.16	+66.0%
Average			+42.4%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Syria	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.09 SYP105,151	$4.92 ZAR83.33	-39.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 SYP130,020	$56.18 ZAR950.86	+461.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,287.91 SYP250,781,375	$21,394.82 ZAR362,135.06	+10.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.24 SYP133,081	$9.34 ZAR158.05	-8.8%
Average			+106.2%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 91.5% more for housing

	Syria	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$40.76 SYP529,986	$39.36 ZAR666.17	-3.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$193.35 SYP2,513,935	$404.16 ZAR6,840.92	+109.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$112.97 SYP1,468,810	$361.59 ZAR6,120.39	+220.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$62.74 SYP815,767	$88.13 ZAR1,491.68	+40.5%
Average			+91.5%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Syria	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$46.24 SYP601,162	$173.48 ZAR2,936.29	+275.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,185.71 SYP28,418,614	$3,962.11 ZAR67,063.83	+81.3%
Average			+178.2%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 64.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Syria	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.89 SYP50,556	$2.18 ZAR36.86	-44.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.30 SYP16,874	$2.05 ZAR34.68	+57.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 SYP40,090	$2.96 ZAR50.17	-3.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.64 SYP177,324	$30.26 ZAR512.21	+121.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.36 SYP30,671	$6.85 ZAR115.92	+190.3%
Average			+64.4%

Syria vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.7% more for clothing

	Syria	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$30.17 SYP392,267	$50.74 ZAR858.89	+68.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.77 SYP556,062	$32.75 ZAR554.38	-23.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.57 SYP917,567	$94.19 ZAR1,594.31	+33.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.17 SYP1,016,375	$81.80 ZAR1,384.49	+4.6%
Average			+20.7%

Syria vs. South Africa - 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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