Cost of living comparison

Hanoi, Vietnam

compared to

Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Hanoi Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 94.8% more expensive than Hanoi.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 15.5% more in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 3.5 times more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 28.9% less in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 75.1% more in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 19.8% more in Johannesburg

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

Johannesburg vs. Hanoi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johannesburg instead of Hanoi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 ₫51,757	$11.36 ZAR200.11	+474.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.75 ₫124,216	$4.88 ZAR86.05	+2.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 ₫11,593	$1.04 ZAR18.29	+134.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 ₫6,728	$0.77 ZAR13.50	+198.0%
Average			+202.4%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.5% more for groceries

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.03 ₫26,906	$1.07 ZAR18.85	+4.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.00 ₫130,905	$4.23 ZAR74.44	-15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.30 ₫138,684	$4.27 ZAR75.16	-19.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 ₫41,499	$2.43 ZAR42.73	+53.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.59 ₫41,705	$2.11 ZAR37.13	+32.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.72 ₫45,013	$0.75 ZAR13.21	-56.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.46 ₫12,099	$0.73 ZAR12.89	+58.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.76 ₫19,973	$0.68 ZAR12.05	-10.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 ₫12,740	$0.75 ZAR13.14	+53.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 ₫11,919	$0.64 ZAR11.23	+40.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,086	$0.70 ZAR12.41	+30.9%
Average			+15.5%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.5 times more for transportation

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.47 ₫90,748	$5.00 ZAR88.10	+44.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.91 ₫207,027	$78.77 ZAR1,387.62	+895.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$39,554.95 ₫1,035,133,233	$22,663.17 ZAR399,211.79	-42.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.38 ₫140,778	$10.22 ZAR180.10	+90.1%
Average			+246.8%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.00 ₫235,629	$46.17 ZAR813.30	+412.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$338.66 ₫8,862,623	$422.94 ZAR7,450.11	+24.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$239.31 ₫6,262,556	$366.97 ZAR6,464.14	+53.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.28 ₫1,525,109	$82.06 ZAR1,445.45	+40.8%
Average			+132.9%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.9% less for childcare

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$243.92 ₫6,383,322	$233.11 ZAR4,106.18	-4.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,260.72 ₫320,856,798	$5,705.81 ZAR100,507.87	-53.5%
Average			-28.9%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 75.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.99 ₫25,878	$2.27 ZAR40.02	+129.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.83 ₫47,974	$2.00 ZAR35.20	+9.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.38 ₫36,230	$3.12 ZAR55.03	+125.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.31 ₫688,446	$34.20 ZAR602.41	+30.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.15 ₫108,689	$7.53 ZAR132.57	+81.2%
Average			+75.1%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.8% more for clothing

	Hanoi	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$36.72 ₫960,977	$49.89 ZAR878.79	+35.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.37 ₫690,089	$38.01 ZAR669.48	+44.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.93 ₫2,431,951	$91.71 ZAR1,615.44	-1.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.41 ₫2,261,368	$86.75 ZAR1,528.08	+0.4%
Average			+19.8%

Hanoi vs. Johannesburg - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: July 2025

More cost comparisons

Hanoi vs.

Warsaw

Hanoi vs.

Kiev

Hanoi vs.

Athens

Hanoi vs.

Wellington

Hanoi vs.

Algiers

Hanoi vs.

Canberra

Hanoi vs.

Lima

Hanoi vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Vietnam vs. South Africa. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Vietnam and South Africa.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Hanoi

Add prices for Johannesburg

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Johannesburg or Hanoi. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.