Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 17.0% more expensive than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 8.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 36.8% more in South Africa
Transportation: pay 55.5% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 62.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.4% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 25.6% less in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.2% more for restaurants

	Moscow	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.19 RUB1,014.46	$8.97 ZAR167.89	-2.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 RUB563.59	$4.77 ZAR89.27	-6.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 RUB118.39	$0.95 ZAR17.86	-11.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 RUB53.58	$0.74 ZAR13.87	+52.7%
Average			+8.2%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.8% more for groceries

	Moscow	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 RUB68.31	$0.99 ZAR18.54	+60.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.41 RUB486.52	$3.67 ZAR68.77	-16.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.57 RUB393.86	$4.20 ZAR78.56	+17.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.52 RUB167.78	$2.23 ZAR41.67	+46.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.99 RUB219.24	$2.03 ZAR37.95	+2.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.68 RUB74.78	$0.68 ZAR12.67
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 RUB73.69	$0.62 ZAR11.55	-7.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 RUB79.01	$0.64 ZAR12.01	-10.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.12 RUB124.05	$0.70 ZAR13.07	-37.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 RUB27.52	$0.55 ZAR10.36	+122.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.21 RUB23.10	$0.61 ZAR11.39	+191.0%
Average			+36.8%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.5% more for transportation

	Moscow	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.22 RUB244.94	$4.99 ZAR93.35	+124.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.58 RUB3,156.11	$52.31 ZAR978.84	+83.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,621.85 RUB3,381,543.78	$20,607.77 ZAR385,612.54	-32.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 RUB642.49	$8.55 ZAR159.97	+46.9%
Average			+55.5%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Moscow	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$6.38 RUB704.36	$41.37 ZAR774.11	+548.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$960.52 RUB106,069.39	$382.55 ZAR7,158.34	-60.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$583.26 RUB64,409.21	$326.35 ZAR6,106.61	-44.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$86.66 RUB9,569.74	$80.40 ZAR1,504.41	-7.2%
Average			+109.3%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 62.0% less for childcare

	Moscow	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$466.53 RUB51,518.81	$174.12 ZAR3,258.07	-62.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,413.52 RUB1,149,955.78	$4,033.53 ZAR75,475.36	-61.3%
Average			-62.0%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.06 RUB338.15	$2.11 ZAR39.44	-31.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.52 RUB278.77	$1.88 ZAR35.23	-25.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.45 RUB270.52	$2.90 ZAR54.34	+18.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.34 RUB3,571.13	$29.50 ZAR552.01	-8.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.10 RUB563.59	$6.62 ZAR123.89	+29.7%
Average			-3.4%

Moscow vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.6% less for clothing

	Moscow	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.16 RUB8,961.92	$47.72 ZAR892.85	-41.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.31 RUB4,672.02	$32.06 ZAR599.89	-24.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.95 RUB12,031.53	$90.39 ZAR1,691.36	-17.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.97 RUB11,260.45	$81.37 ZAR1,522.54	-20.2%
Average			-25.6%

Moscow vs. South Africa - 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: January 2025

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