Cost of living comparison

Timor-Leste

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Timor-Leste Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 25.1% cheaper than Timor-Leste overall.

Restaurants: pay 5.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 15.3% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 26.1% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 45.0% less in South Africa
Childcare: pay 79.8% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.3% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 15.8% more in South Africa

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

Planning a move to South Africa? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

South Africa vs. Timor-Leste Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Timor-Leste, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.2% more for restaurants

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+104.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-26.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$1.08 ZAR17.88	-35.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.83	$0.84 ZAR13.78	-70.5%
Average			+5.2%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.3% less for groceries

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-57.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.00	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+308.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.80	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-48.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.70	$2.56 ZAR42.28	-5.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.31	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-46.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.51	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-46.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-11.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-30.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.06	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-27.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+16.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+24.3%
Average			-15.3%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.1% more for transportation

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.34	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+2.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+117.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,000.00	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+80.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.70	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-77.5%
Average			+26.1%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 45.0% less for housing

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$38.93 ZAR642.17
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$828.75	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-49.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$753.75	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	-51.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.71	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	-8.0%
Average			-45.0%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 79.8% less for childcare

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,500.00	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-86.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,000.00	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-69.3%
Average			-79.8%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.50	$2.25 ZAR37.13	-10.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.12	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-45.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+5.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.00	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-36.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.00	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+22.0%
Average			-18.3%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.8% more for clothing

	Timor-Leste	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.00	$52.66 ZAR868.55	-12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.00	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+13.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.00	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+24.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.00	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+44.3%
Average			+15.8%

Timor-Leste vs. South Africa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Timor-Leste vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 20.4 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Timor-Leste is about 82 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Timor-Leste to South Africa · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

More cost comparisons

Timor-Leste vs.

Indonesia

Timor-Leste vs.

Australia

Timor-Leste vs.

United Kingdom

Timor-Leste vs.

Portugal

Timor-Leste vs.

Greece

Timor-Leste vs.

Philippines

Timor-Leste vs.

Italy

Timor-Leste vs.

Brazil

Share this

Compare by city

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

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 Timor-Leste

Add prices for South Africa

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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