Cost of living comparison

Somalia

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Somalia Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 2.1 times more expensive than Somalia overall.

Restaurants: pay 76.0% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 6.5% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 4.3 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.8% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in South Africa

The cost of childcare, clothing, housing, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in South Africa are more expensive than in Somalia. Notably, childcare, clothing, and housing are significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. Somalia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.0% more for restaurants

	Somalia	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.65 SOS1,514	$8.97 ZAR163.29	+238.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.67 SOS2,666	$4.77 ZAR86.82	+2.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 SOS462	$0.95 ZAR17.37	+18.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 SOS292	$0.74 ZAR13.49	+45.0%
Average			+76.0%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.5% less for groceries

	Somalia	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.97 SOS555	$0.99 ZAR18.03	+1.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.96 SOS1,119	$3.67 ZAR66.88	+87.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.93 SOS3,388	$4.20 ZAR76.41	-29.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 SOS1,261	$2.23 ZAR40.53	+0.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 SOS1,526	$2.03 ZAR36.91	-24.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.73 SOS986	$0.68 ZAR12.32	-60.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 SOS505	$0.62 ZAR11.23	-30.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 SOS751	$0.64 ZAR11.68	-51.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SOS311	$0.70 ZAR12.71	+28.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 SOS343	$0.55 ZAR10.08	-7.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 SOS310	$0.61 ZAR11.08	+12.4%
Average			-6.5%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Somalia	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 SOS2,355	$4.99 ZAR90.79	+21.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.00 SOS14,281	$52.31 ZAR952.05	+109.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,750.00 SOS3,284,688	$20,607.77 ZAR375,057.24	+258.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.43 SOS4,246	$8.55 ZAR155.59	+15.0%
Average			+100.9%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Somalia	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.62 SOS17,495	$41.37 ZAR752.92	+35.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$160.00 SOS91,400	$382.55 ZAR6,962.40	+139.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$93.33 SOS53,317	$326.35 ZAR5,939.46	+249.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.31 SOS53,877	$80.40 ZAR1,463.23	-14.8%
Average			+102.3%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.3 times more for childcare

	Somalia	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$55.21 SOS31,538	$174.12 ZAR3,168.88	+215.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$742.50 SOS424,153	$4,033.53 ZAR73,409.39	+443.2%
Average			+329.3%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Somalia	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00 SOS3,999	$2.11 ZAR38.36	-69.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.24 SOS706	$1.88 ZAR34.27	+52.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.34 SOS768	$2.90 ZAR52.86	+115.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.00 SOS17,138	$29.50 ZAR536.90	-1.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SOS2,856	$6.62 ZAR120.50	+32.4%
Average			+25.8%

Somalia vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Somalia	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.61 SOS10,632	$47.72 ZAR868.41	+156.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.11 SOS13,202	$32.06 ZAR583.47	+38.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$25.89 SOS14,789	$90.39 ZAR1,645.06	+249.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$45.78 SOS26,151	$81.37 ZAR1,480.86	+77.7%
Average			+130.5%

Somalia 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: May 2025

More cost comparisons

Somalia vs.

Ireland

Somalia vs.

Italy

Somalia vs.

Germany

Somalia vs.

Iceland

Somalia vs.

United Kingdom

Somalia vs.

Australia

Somalia vs.

Spain

Somalia vs.

Thailand

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Mogadishu 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 Somalia

Add prices for South Africa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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