Cost of living comparison

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

compared to

Pretoria, South Africa

Pretoria vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Pretoria is 25.2% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 40.6% more in Pretoria
Groceries: pay 7.2% less in Pretoria
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Pretoria
Housing: pay 26.6% more in Pretoria
Childcare: pay 29.9% less in Pretoria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.2% less in Pretoria
Clothing: pay 9.6% more in Pretoria

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

Pretoria vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Pretoria instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.6% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.54 MYR19.29	$8.52 ZAR152.91	+87.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.54 MYR19.29	$4.68 ZAR84.05	+3.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 MYR3.58	$1.01 ZAR18.09	+19.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 MYR2.27	$0.81 ZAR14.58	+52.1%
Average			+40.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.2% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 MYR4.02	$1.07 ZAR19.27	+13.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.58 MYR32.17	$3.70 ZAR66.34	-51.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.22 MYR30.65	$4.91 ZAR88.18	-31.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.36 MYR10.01	$2.35 ZAR42.12	-0.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.94 MYR8.22	$2.08 ZAR37.27	+7.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 MYR5.26	$0.69 ZAR12.39	-44.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.93	$0.68 ZAR12.29	-0.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 MYR5.31	$0.73 ZAR13.02	-42.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 MYR2.66	$0.75 ZAR13.52	+20.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 MYR1.98	$0.64 ZAR11.48	+37.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 MYR2.18	$0.58 ZAR10.46	+13.8%
Average			-7.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.77 MYR7.53	$5.05 ZAR90.72	+185.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.36 MYR48.22	$65.32 ZAR1,172.30	+475.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,478.71 MYR159,134.58	$19,084.78 ZAR342,514.68	-49.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 MYR43.40	$8.78 ZAR157.50	-14.1%
Average			+149.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.6% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.27 MYR107.28	$39.13 ZAR702.30	+54.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$536.30 MYR2,277.11	$416.34 ZAR7,472.12	-22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.69 MYR1,578.19	$379.25 ZAR6,806.38	+2.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$50.02 MYR212.40	$86.03 ZAR1,543.98	+72.0%
Average			+26.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of housing

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pay 29.9% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$250.80 MYR1,064.92	$216.65 ZAR3,888.24	-13.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,920.55 MYR37,876.66	$4,800.41 ZAR86,152.93	-46.2%
Average			-29.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 MYR17.36	$2.39 ZAR42.81	-41.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.92 MYR12.39	$2.00 ZAR35.82	-31.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.09 MYR17.36	$2.95 ZAR53.01	-27.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.75 MYR190.00	$34.21 ZAR613.97	-23.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.77 MYR20.25	$7.81 ZAR140.17	+63.7%
Average			-12.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.6% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Pretoria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.74 MYR245.16	$49.09 ZAR880.96	-15.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.00 MYR148.61	$34.65 ZAR621.83	-1.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.75 MYR325.89	$92.30 ZAR1,656.51	+20.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.25 MYR311.04	$98.31 ZAR1,764.33	+34.2%
Average			+9.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Pretoria - 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: June 2025

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