Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 44.7% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 38.1% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 9.2% more in Beijing
Transportation: pay 20.7% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 23.6% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 4.5 times more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.7% more in Beijing
Clothing: pay 12.2% more in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.1% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR155.06	$4.17 CN¥30.22	-51.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR93.04	$5.57 CN¥40.29	+8.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR18.07	$0.50 CN¥3.59	-50.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR14.20	$0.31 CN¥2.24	-60.4%
Average			-38.1%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.2% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.52	$1.43 CN¥10.38	+33.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR75.19	$7.31 CN¥52.89	+76.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR77.41	$7.17 CN¥51.90	+68.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR46.10	$1.74 CN¥12.58	-31.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR41.80	$1.53 CN¥11.08	-33.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.31	$0.92 CN¥6.64	+25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.66	$0.71 CN¥5.15	+2.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.52	$0.89 CN¥6.42	+29.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.72	$0.58 CN¥4.22	-16.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.99	$0.37 CN¥2.67	-32.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.81	$0.47 CN¥3.41	-20.7%
Average			+9.2%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.7% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR92.64	$4.36 CN¥31.56	-14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR775.30	$33.40 CN¥241.74	-21.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR361,808.21	$20,872.18 CN¥151,087.44	+5.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR173.67	$4.59 CN¥33.24	-51.9%
Average			-20.7%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.6% less for housing

	Cape Town	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR787.82	$13.28 CN¥96.16	-69.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR14,276.27	$929.88 CN¥6,731.11	+18.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR9,203.96	$492.44 CN¥3,564.64	-2.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,298.10	$42.04 CN¥304.32	-41.1%
Average			-23.6%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 4.5 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,768.44	$763.49 CN¥5,526.70	+268.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR78,490.16	$22,913.01 CN¥165,860.43	+431.3%
Average			+350.0%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR46.52	$1.11 CN¥8.06	-56.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR38.67	$3.60 CN¥26.08	+69.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.75	$3.48 CN¥25.18	+17.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR721.71	$65.46 CN¥473.82	+65.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR124.05	$8.35 CN¥60.43	+22.5%
Average			+23.7%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.2% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR974.21	$62.65 CN¥453.54	+17.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR561.60	$34.69 CN¥251.09	+12.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,910.35	$83.45 CN¥604.09	-20.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,402.53	$107.64 CN¥779.15	+39.7%
Average			+12.2%

Cape Town vs. Beijing - 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: March 2025

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