Cost of living comparison

Zimbabwe

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Zimbabwe Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 23.7% more expensive than Zimbabwe overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.4% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 4.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 3.0% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 54.7% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 30.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Zimbabwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.4% more for restaurants

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.25 ZWL2,334.50	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+40.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.38 ZWL1,730.75	$5.91 ZAR97.49	+10.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 ZWL234.79	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+48.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 ZWL135.90	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+97.9%
Average			+34.4%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.4% less for groceries

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZWL322.00	$1.07 ZAR17.59	+6.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 ZWL1,701.44	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-22.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.96 ZWL1,919.26	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-23.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.90 ZWL611.53	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+35.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.12 ZWL682.33	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+9.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 ZWL353.72	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-26.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZWL236.30	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+0.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 ZWL328.63	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-23.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZWL188.63	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+31.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 ZWL217.09	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-4.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 ZWL231.09	$0.66 ZAR10.85	-8.3%
Average			-4.4%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.0% more for transportation

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.57 ZWL2,116.06	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-16.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.00 ZWL14,490.00	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+44.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,500.00 ZWL8M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+38.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.50 ZWL6,279.00	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-62.3%
Average			+3.0%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.7% more for housing

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.24 ZWL28,414.33	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-55.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$282.50 ZWL90,965.00	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+49.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.05 ZWL68,280.10	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+74.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.83 ZWL17,977.33	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+89.1%
Average			+54.7%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 30.0% less for childcare

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$331.89 ZWL107K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-39.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,027.78 ZWL2M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-18.4%
Average			-30.0%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.38 ZWL442.75	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+63.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 ZWL825.12	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-12.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.75 ZWL563.50	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+80.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.58 ZWL12,745.83	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-20.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$7.32 ZAR120.70	-26.8%
Average			-0.2%

Zimbabwe vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Zimbabwe	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$22.24 ZWL7,160.03	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+136.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.41 ZWL5,282.85	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+108.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$42.46 ZWL13,673.21	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+134.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$49.35 ZWL15,890.90	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+75.5%
Average			+112.3%

Zimbabwe 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: Zimbabwe vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Be 3.5 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Zimbabwe is about 3.1 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Zimbabwe to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

690,243 people born in Zimbabwe live in South Africa.

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