Cost of living comparison

Uganda

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Uganda Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 51.0% more expensive than Uganda overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 30.4% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 92.4% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 44.9% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 31.3% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.7% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.8 times more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Uganda Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Uganda	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.45 UGX10,151	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+316.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.36 UGX30,452	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-19.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 UGX1,523	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+194.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 UGX1,107	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+212.0%
Average			+119.6%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.4% more for groceries

	Uganda	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 UGX3,747	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+17.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.18 UGX9,009	$4.08 ZAR67.33	+87.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.90 UGX11,976	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+58.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.58 UGX6,530	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+62.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 UGX8,472	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+13.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.95 UGX3,939	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-14.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 UGX2,353	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+29.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 UGX2,430	$0.79 ZAR12.95	+33.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 UGX2,225	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+43.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$0.64 ZAR10.62	+15.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 UGX2,302	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+18.2%
Average			+30.4%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 92.4% more for transportation

	Uganda	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.31 UGX21,961	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+3.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.68 UGX177K	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+52.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,361.98 UGX30M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+341.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.94 UGX12,181	$7.35 ZAR121.20	+149.5%
Average			+92.4%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.9% more for housing

	Uganda	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 UGX143K	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+12.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$482.64 UGX2M	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	-12.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$167.36 UGX692K	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+120.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.08 UGX220K	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+98.9%
Average			+44.9%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 31.3% less for childcare

	Uganda	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$251.43 UGX1M	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-20.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,279.19 UGX34M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-40.6%
Average			-31.3%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Uganda	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.23 UGX5,075	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+83.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 UGX10,471	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-11.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.45 UGX10,151	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+28.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.21 UGX228K	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-42.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.36 UGX30,452	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-0.6%
Average			-1.7%

Uganda vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.8 times more for clothing

	Uganda	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.80 UGX57,098	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+281.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$12.88 UGX53,292	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+164.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$31.90 UGX132K	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+212.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$43.25 UGX179K	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+100.2%
Average			+182.0%

Uganda vs. South Africa - 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: Uganda vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 26 statistics

Be 11.8 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Uganda is about 5 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Uganda to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

5,852 people born in Uganda live in South Africa.

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