Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Namibia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 7.4% more expensive than Namibia overall.

Restaurants: pay 12.2% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 14.1% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 27.6% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 1.3% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 10.6% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.7% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 23.0% more in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Namibia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 12.2% more for restaurants

	Namibia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.95 NAD149.16	$8.97 ZAR167.75	+12.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.23 NAD79.35	$4.77 ZAR89.19	+12.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 NAD15.63	$0.95 ZAR17.85	+14.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 NAD12.82	$0.74 ZAR13.85	+8.4%
Average			+12.2%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.1% less for groceries

	Namibia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 NAD16.42	$0.99 ZAR18.52	+13.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.33 NAD62.54	$3.67 ZAR68.71	+10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.12 NAD95.95	$4.20 ZAR78.50	-17.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.57 NAD48.12	$2.23 ZAR41.64	-13.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.33 NAD43.70	$2.03 ZAR37.92	-13.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 NAD14.90	$0.68 ZAR12.66	-14.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 NAD14.37	$0.62 ZAR11.54	-19.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.71 NAD13.37	$0.64 ZAR12.00	-10.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 NAD15.60	$0.70 ZAR13.06	-16.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 NAD17.16	$0.55 ZAR10.35	-39.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 NAD17.49	$0.61 ZAR11.38	-34.7%
Average			-14.1%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.6% more for transportation

	Namibia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 NAD89.49	$4.99 ZAR93.27	+4.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.08 NAD639.25	$52.31 ZAR978.04	+53.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,621.70 NAD292,990.93	$20,607.77 ZAR385,297.34	+31.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.10 NAD133.18	$8.55 ZAR159.84	+20.4%
Average			+27.6%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.3% more for housing

	Namibia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$63.90 NAD1,198.47	$41.37 ZAR773.47	-35.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$452.24 NAD8,481.94	$382.55 ZAR7,152.49	-15.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$328.15 NAD6,154.58	$326.35 ZAR6,101.62	-0.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.47 NAD965.32	$80.40 ZAR1,503.18	+56.2%
Average			+1.3%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.6% less for childcare

	Namibia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$169.47 NAD3,178.51	$174.12 ZAR3,255.40	+2.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,302.57 NAD99,451.78	$4,033.53 ZAR75,413.67	-23.9%
Average			-10.6%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Namibia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.49 NAD27.97	$2.11 ZAR39.41	+41.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 NAD33.86	$1.88 ZAR35.20	+4.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.97 NAD55.67	$2.90 ZAR54.30	-2.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.72 NAD651.15	$29.50 ZAR551.56	-15.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.90 NAD91.89	$6.62 ZAR123.79	+35.1%
Average			+12.7%

Namibia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.0% more for clothing

	Namibia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.49 NAD703.18	$47.72 ZAR892.12	+27.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.97 NAD505.81	$32.06 ZAR599.40	+18.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.06 NAD1,314.02	$90.39 ZAR1,689.97	+29.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.59 NAD1,305.14	$81.37 ZAR1,521.29	+16.9%
Average			+23.0%

Namibia vs. South Africa - 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: January 2025

More cost comparisons

Namibia vs.

Greece

Namibia vs.

Iceland

Namibia vs.

Germany

Namibia vs.

United Kingdom

Namibia vs.

Russia

Namibia vs.

United States

Namibia vs.

Austria

Namibia vs.

Australia

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Windhoek vs. Pretoria

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 Namibia

Add prices for South Africa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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