Cost of living comparison

Cape Town, South Africa

compared to

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Reykjavik is 2.2 times more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Reykjavik
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in Reykjavik
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Reykjavik
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Reykjavik
Childcare: pay 30.4% more in Reykjavik
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0 times more in Reykjavik
Clothing: pay 90.3% more in Reykjavik

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, transportation, and clothing in Reykjavik are more expensive than in Cape Town. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Reykjavik.

Reykjavik vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR155.06	$20.00 ISK2,689	+134.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR93.04	$18.02 ISK2,423	+252.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR18.07	$3.15 ISK424	+217.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR14.20	$2.19 ISK294	+180.0%
Average			+196.2%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.52	$3.61 ISK485	+236.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR75.19	$7.76 ISK1,043	+87.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR77.41	$6.40 ISK861	+50.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR46.10	$5.76 ISK774	+127.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR41.80	$9.45 ISK1,270	+311.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.31	$1.40 ISK189	+91.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.66	$1.01 ISK136	+45.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.52	$1.22 ISK164	+77.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.72	$2.22 ISK299	+218.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.99	$1.43 ISK193	+161.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.81	$0.93 ISK126	+57.2%
Average			+133.1%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR92.64	$8.50 ISK1,143	+67.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR775.30	$74.95 ISK10,078	+76.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR361,808.21	$42,450.45 ISK5,707,888	+113.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR173.67	$24.05 ISK3,234	+152.0%
Average			+102.1%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR787.82	$69.87 ISK9,394	+61.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR14,276.27	$1,971.17 ISK265,044	+151.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR9,203.96	$1,803.44 ISK242,491	+256.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,298.10	$53.95 ISK7,255	-24.4%
Average			+111.2%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of housing

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pay 30.4% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,768.44	$252.14 ISK33,903	+21.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR78,490.16	$5,993.99 ISK805,952	+39.0%
Average			+30.4%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR46.52	$10.81 ISK1,454	+323.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR38.67	$5.31 ISK713	+149.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.75	$12.25 ISK1,646	+314.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR721.71	$69.95 ISK9,405	+76.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR124.05	$14.77 ISK1,987	+116.8%
Average			+196.1%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 90.3% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Reykjavik
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR974.21	$108.97 ISK14,652	+103.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR561.60	$49.72 ISK6,685	+61.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,910.35	$151.85 ISK20,418	+44.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,402.53	$194.16 ISK26,106	+151.9%
Average			+90.3%

Cape Town vs. Reykjavik - 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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