Cost of living comparison

compared to

Thimphu vs. Pretoria Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 31.6% cheaper than Pretoria.

Restaurants: pay 56.2% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 21.1% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 8.3% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 62.5% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 36.2% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.0% more in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 69.7% less in Thimphu

Expenses including clothing, housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, and transportation are lower in Thimphu.

Thimphu vs. Pretoria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thimphu instead of Pretoria, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 56.2% less for restaurants

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR159.43	$2.95 BTN252.44	-65.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.68 ZAR87.63	$2.95 BTN252.44	-37.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 ZAR18.87	$0.55 BTN47.46	-45.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 ZAR15.20	$0.19 BTN15.99	-77.0%
Average			-56.2%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.1% less for groceries

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR20.10	$0.94 BTN80.78	-12.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ZAR69.17	$1.68 BTN143.89	-54.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.91 ZAR91.94	$3.17 BTN271.38	-35.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.35 ZAR43.92	$2.20 BTN188.82	-6.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 ZAR38.85	$1.74 BTN148.85	-16.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.92	$1.07 BTN91.60	+54.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.81	$0.65 BTN56.11	-4.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.57	$0.82 BTN70.53	+13.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR14.09	$0.37 BTN31.60	-51.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.97	$0.23 BTN19.69	-64.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 ZAR10.91	$0.26 BTN21.98	-56.0%
Average			-21.1%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.3% less for transportation

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 ZAR94.58	$3.93 BTN336.33	-22.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.32 ZAR1,222.27	$3.97 BTN339.81	-93.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,084.78 ZAR357,114.35	$21,215.98 BTN1,817,545.70	+11.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.78 ZAR164.21	$15.09 BTN1,292.48	+71.9%
Average			-8.3%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 62.5% less for housing

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.13 ZAR732.23	$31.25 BTN2,676.77	-20.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$416.34 ZAR7,790.62	$124.45 BTN10,661.58	-70.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$379.25 ZAR7,096.50	$79.38 BTN6,800.57	-79.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$86.03 ZAR1,609.79	$16.69 BTN1,429.57	-80.6%
Average			-62.5%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.2% less for childcare

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.65 ZAR4,053.98	$246.05 BTN21,078.48	+13.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,800.41 ZAR89,825.19	$677.73 BTN58,060.49	-85.9%
Average			-36.2%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.39 ZAR44.64	$6.43 BTN550.98	+169.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR37.34	$1.53 BTN131.27	-23.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR55.27	$3.83 BTN328.17	+29.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.21 ZAR640.14	$49.11 BTN4,207.28	+43.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.81 ZAR146.14	$3.54 BTN302.92	-54.7%
Average			+33.0%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.7% less for clothing

	Pretoria	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.09 ZAR918.51	$9.43 BTN807.80	-80.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.65 ZAR648.33	$11.79 BTN1,009.75	-66.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.30 ZAR1,727.12	$32.41 BTN2,776.81	-64.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.31 ZAR1,839.53	$32.41 BTN2,776.81	-67.0%
Average			-69.7%

Pretoria vs. Thimphu - 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

Pretoria vs.

Phnom Penh

Pretoria vs.

Algiers

Pretoria vs.

Athens

Pretoria vs.

Hong Kong

Pretoria vs.

Wellington

Pretoria vs.

Madrid

Pretoria vs.

Cairo

Pretoria vs.

Paris

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Pretoria

Add prices for Thimphu

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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