Cost of living comparison

Johannesburg, South Africa

compared to

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Cairo is 47.4% cheaper than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 54.9% less in Cairo
Groceries: pay 48.8% less in Cairo
Transportation: pay 46.2% less in Cairo
Housing: pay 69.4% less in Cairo
Childcare: pay 64.2% less in Cairo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.5% less in Cairo
Clothing: pay 6.8% less in Cairo

Expenses including housing, childcare, restaurants, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Cairo.

Cairo vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 54.9% less for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.36 ZAR204.41	$4.06 EGP202.07	-64.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.88 ZAR87.90	$4.71 EGP234.40	-3.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 ZAR18.69	$0.33 EGP16.65	-67.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 ZAR13.79	$0.12 EGP6.10	-84.0%
Average			-54.9%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 48.8% less for groceries

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.26	$0.65 EGP32.30	-39.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.23 ZAR76.04	$1.59 EGP78.93	-62.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.27 ZAR76.78	$3.40 EGP169.18	-20.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 ZAR43.65	$1.45 EGP72.16	-40.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 ZAR37.93	$1.96 EGP97.53	-7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.50	$0.68 EGP34.05	-8.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.17	$0.23 EGP11.60	-68.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.31	$0.16 EGP7.92	-76.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.42	$0.19 EGP9.58	-74.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.47	$0.22 EGP10.77	-66.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.68	$0.19 EGP9.44	-73.1%
Average			-48.8%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.2% less for transportation

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR90.00	$1.01 EGP50.51	-79.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.77 ZAR1,417.47	$8.12 EGP404.14	-89.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,663.17 ZAR407,800.90	$36,284.10 EGP1,806,017.59	+60.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 ZAR183.97	$2.50 EGP124.27	-75.6%
Average			-46.2%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.4% less for housing

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.17 ZAR830.80	$9.69 EGP482.48	-79.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$422.94 ZAR7,610.40	$208.74 EGP10,389.86	-50.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$366.97 ZAR6,603.22	$129.60 EGP6,450.76	-64.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.06 ZAR1,476.55	$13.65 EGP679.50	-83.4%
Average			-69.4%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 64.2% less for childcare

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$233.11 ZAR4,194.52	$87.26 EGP4,343.38	-62.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,705.81 ZAR102,670.31	$1,948.40 EGP96,980.48	-65.9%
Average			-64.2%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.27 ZAR40.88	$1.42 EGP70.73	-37.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR35.95	$1.54 EGP76.54	-23.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.12 ZAR56.21	$1.83 EGP90.93	-41.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.20 ZAR615.37	$18.55 EGP923.42	-45.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.53 ZAR135.42	$3.04 EGP151.55	-59.5%
Average			-41.5%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.8% less for clothing

	Johannesburg	Cairo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.89 ZAR897.69	$37.28 EGP1,855.61	-25.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.01 ZAR683.88	$49.39 EGP2,458.54	+30.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.71 ZAR1,650.20	$97.57 EGP4,856.61	+6.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.75 ZAR1,560.96	$53.60 EGP2,667.98	-38.2%
Average			-6.8%

Johannesburg vs. Cairo - 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: June 2025

More cost comparisons

Johannesburg vs.

Singapore

Johannesburg vs.

Wellington

Johannesburg vs.

Warsaw

Johannesburg vs.

Prague

Johannesburg vs.

Lima

Johannesburg vs.

Quito

Johannesburg vs.

Mexico City

Johannesburg vs.

Paris

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Johannesburg

Add prices for Cairo

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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