Cost of living comparison

Manila, Philippines

compared to

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town vs. Manila Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 27.1% more expensive than Manila.

Restaurants: pay 39.8% more in Cape Town
Groceries: pay 29.7% less in Cape Town
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Cape Town
Housing: pay 50.1% more in Cape Town
Childcare: pay 63.3% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.8% more in Cape Town
Clothing: pay 36.3% more in Cape Town

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

Cape Town vs. Manila Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.8% more for restaurants

	Manila	Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.12 ₱293.21	$8.52 ZAR155.06	+66.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.26 ₱244.34	$5.11 ZAR93.04	+19.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 ₱50.04	$0.99 ZAR18.07	+13.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 ₱28.17	$0.78 ZAR14.20	+58.8%
Average			+39.8%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.7% less for groceries

	Manila	Cape Town
Bread 1 loaf	$1.35 ₱77.49	$1.07 ZAR19.52	-20.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.30 ₱304.00	$4.13 ZAR75.19	-22.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 ₱389.38	$4.25 ZAR77.41	-37.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.08 ₱119.14	$2.53 ZAR46.10	+21.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.42 ₱138.67	$2.30 ZAR41.80	-5.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 ₱87.23	$0.73 ZAR13.31	-52.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 ₱46.08	$0.70 ZAR12.66	-13.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.52 ₱87.25	$0.69 ZAR12.52	-54.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 ₱55.99	$0.70 ZAR12.72	-28.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 ₱68.84	$0.55 ZAR9.99	-54.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.48 ₱85.12	$0.59 ZAR10.81	-60.0%
Average			-29.7%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Manila	Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.14 ₱237.38	$5.09 ZAR92.64	+22.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.93 ₱569.11	$42.60 ZAR775.30	+329.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,575.45 ₱1,466,035.76	$19,879.98 ZAR361,808.21	-22.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.67 ₱152.96	$9.54 ZAR173.67	+257.6%
Average			+146.8%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.1% more for housing

	Manila	Cape Town
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$28.80 ₱1,651.16	$43.29 ZAR787.82	+50.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$468.88 ₱26,877.27	$784.43 ZAR14,276.27	+67.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$234.44 ₱13,438.66	$505.72 ZAR9,203.96	+115.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$106.33 ₱6,095.04	$71.33 ZAR1,298.10	-32.9%
Average			+50.1%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing

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pay 63.3% less for childcare

	Manila	Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$482.52 ₱27,659.21	$207.06 ZAR3,768.44	-57.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,127.39 ₱809,810.23	$4,312.73 ZAR78,490.16	-69.5%
Average			-63.3%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Manila	Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 ₱78.19	$2.56 ZAR46.52	+87.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.70 ₱154.60	$2.12 ZAR38.67	-21.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.07 ₱175.92	$2.95 ZAR53.75	-3.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.61 ₱2,327.89	$39.65 ZAR721.71	-2.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 ₱439.81	$6.82 ZAR124.05	-11.2%
Average			+9.8%

Manila vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.3% more for clothing

	Manila	Cape Town
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.31 ₱1,909.53	$53.53 ZAR974.21	+60.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.60 ₱1,524.58	$30.86 ZAR561.60	+16.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.03 ₱4,243.28	$104.97 ZAR1,910.35	+41.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.89 ₱3,490.42	$77.06 ZAR1,402.53	+26.6%
Average			+36.3%

Manila vs. Cape Town - 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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