Cost of living comparison

compared to

London vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

London is 3.9 times more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in London
Groceries: pay 81.4% more in London
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in London
Housing: pay 4.5 times more in London
Childcare: pay 10.2 times more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.6 times more in London
Clothing: pay 63.6% more in London

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

London vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	South Africa	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.97 ZAR167.75	$25.83 £20.55	+187.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.77 ZAR89.19	$10.33 £8.22	+116.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 ZAR17.85	$2.46 £1.95	+157.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 ZAR13.85	$1.85 £1.47	+149.7%
Average			+152.9%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 81.4% more for groceries

	South Africa	London
Bread 1 loaf	$0.99 ZAR18.52	$2.07 £1.65	+108.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.67 ZAR68.71	$5.65 £4.49	+53.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.20 ZAR78.50	$6.31 £5.02	+50.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 ZAR41.64	$4.45 £3.54	+99.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.03 ZAR37.92	$4.26 £3.39	+110.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.66	$1.56 £1.24	+130.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 ZAR11.54	$0.75 £0.60	+22.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR12.00	$1.44 £1.14	+124.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR13.06	$1.79 £1.43	+156.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR10.35	$0.69 £0.55	+24.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.61 ZAR11.38	$0.70 £0.56	+15.3%
Average			+81.4%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	South Africa	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZAR93.27	$7.39 £5.88	+48.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.31 ZAR978.04	$258.31 £205.46	+393.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,607.77 ZAR385,297.34	$36,531.14 £29,057.52	+77.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.55 ZAR159.84	$35.26 £28.05	+312.4%
Average			+207.9%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.5 times more for housing

	South Africa	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.37 ZAR773.47	$41.63 £33.11	+0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$382.55 ZAR7,152.49	$2,834.46 £2,254.58	+640.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$326.35 ZAR6,101.62	$2,063.73 £1,641.53	+532.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.40 ZAR1,503.18	$263.90 £209.91	+228.2%
Average			+350.5%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 10.2 times more for childcare

	South Africa	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$174.12 ZAR3,255.40	$2,333.60 £1,856.19	+1240.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,033.53 ZAR75,413.67	$27,892.30 £22,186.04	+591.5%
Average			+915.9%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.11 ZAR39.41	$8.27 £6.57	+292.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.88 ZAR35.20	$4.80 £3.82	+155.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.90 ZAR54.30	$19.76 £15.72	+580.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.50 ZAR551.56	$65.66 £52.23	+122.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.62 ZAR123.79	$16.14 £12.84	+143.8%
Average			+258.8%

South Africa vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 63.6% more for clothing

	South Africa	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.72 ZAR892.12	$96.94 £77.11	+103.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.06 ZAR599.40	$50.55 £40.21	+57.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.39 ZAR1,689.97	$114.87 £91.37	+27.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.37 ZAR1,521.29	$135.36 £107.67	+66.4%
Average			+63.6%

South Africa vs. London - 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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