Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

South Africa

Pretoria vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 6.3% more expensive than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 30.5% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 17.8% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 3.6% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 45.1% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.3% more in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 34.8% less in Pretoria

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

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Pretoria vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Ulaanbaatar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 30.5% more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$9.01 ZAR149.38	+62.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$5.41 ZAR89.63	-2.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$1.06 ZAR17.56	+23.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.85 ZAR14.11	+44.2%
Average			+30.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.8% less for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.10 ZAR18.30	+10.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$4.18 ZAR69.28	-32.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$4.45 ZAR73.72	-19.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$2.47 ZAR40.94	+17.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$2.23 ZAR37.04	+0.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$0.79 ZAR13.17	-42.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.74 ZAR12.28	-32.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$0.79 ZAR13.17	-53.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$0.72 ZAR11.98	-47.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.50 ZAR8.22	+50.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.54 ZAR8.98	+12.7%
Average			-17.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$5.75 ZAR95.27	+33.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$177.56 ZAR2,942.84	+965.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$35,391.94 ZAR587K	+31.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$6.55 ZAR108.55	+34.7%
Average			+123.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6% more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$36.83 ZAR610.43	+170.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$454.27 ZAR7,528.89	-20.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$405.14 ZAR6,714.76	-8.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$115.49 ZAR1,914.15	+112.4%
Average			+3.6%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 45.1% less for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$260.78 ZAR4,322.14	-68.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$7,821.75 ZAR130K	-5.3%
Average			-45.1%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$2.55 ZAR42.33	+8.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$2.25 ZAR37.35	-6.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$3.25 ZAR53.86	+93.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$31.49 ZAR521.97	-53.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$7.21 ZAR119.51	+73.0%
Average			+1.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.8% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$53.03 ZAR878.94	-35.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$32.00 ZAR530.44	-29.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$91.85 ZAR1,522.34	-10.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$82.87 ZAR1,373.48	-55.8%
Average			-34.8%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Pretoria - 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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