Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Aden

For one person, living is cheaper in Aden: $1,399 a month against $1,568 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $2,000 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Cape Town outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
67

Cost of Living Index in Aden
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Aden Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

Aden

🇾🇪 Yemen

$1,399

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cape Town and in Aden

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Cape Town and in Aden actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,568 per month in Cape Town vs $1,399 in Aden, rent included.

Cape Town $1,568
Aden $1,399

A couple spends around $2,438 per month in Cape Town vs $2,375 in Aden, rent included.

Cape Town $2,438
Aden $2,375

A family of three spends $3,307 per month in Cape Town vs $3,352 in Aden, rent included.

Cape Town $3,307
Aden $3,352

Cape Town costs about 12% more than Aden, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both Cape Town and Aden sit above the global median – Cape Town by 17%, Aden by 4%.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$12.51 YER 2,949

-5.84%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$36.00 YER 8,489

29.31%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$10.35 YER 2,440

-42.42%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.63 YER 857

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.50 YER 1,060

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$3.98 YER 938

-37.94%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.33 R 21.91

$3.31 YER 779

-59.82%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$1.84 YER 434

-44.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.72

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.4

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 22.96

$5.23 YER 1,232

-73.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$2.41 YER 569

-50.62%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$9.31 YER 2,196

-77.34%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$10.62 YER 2,505

-71.66%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$8.49 YER 2,002

5.54%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$15.75 YER 3,715

-57.78%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$55.8 YER 13.1K

-83.34%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$13.49 YER 3,180

-86.43%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$3.67 YER 865

-48.23%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$10.39 YER 2,450

-83.16%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$4.69 YER 1,106

-55.44%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$4.43 YER 1,044

-65.01%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$4.12 YER 971

-63.83%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$1.31 YER 308

-0.76%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$1.41 YER 332

-17.73%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$6.34 YER 1,494

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.24 YER 1,000

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$5.17 YER 1,220

-28.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 100

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.32

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 24.98

$0.32 YER 75.3

371.87%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$2.73 YER 643

-42.12%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$35.5K R 585.7K

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.7K R 523.8K

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$116 R 1,920

$49.54 YER 11.7K

134.92%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$28.37 R 468

$10.08 YER 2,378

181.45%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$24.65 YER 5,813

98.17%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$10.04 YER 2,367

10.86%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$6.00 YER 1,414

47.17%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$261 R 4,314

$32.98 YER 7,776

692.75%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$5,351 YER 1.3M

25.25%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

$106 YER 24.9K

-47.64%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$83.9 YER 19.8K

-61.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

$112 YER 26.4K

5.14%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$161 YER 38.0K

-33.62%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$235 YER 55.4K

331.69%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$257 YER 60.5K

178.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$842 YER 198.5K

113.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$543 YER 127.9K

145.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$590 YER 139.2K

294.79%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$451 YER 106.3K

235.74%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$388 YER 91.6K

321.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

-0.27%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Aden: October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Aden

$257 18.5% 64.1% $459

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Aden

$626 45.1% 181% $403

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Aden

$60 * 4.3% 67.8% $126

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Aden

$199 14.4% 14.8% $26

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Aden

$208 15% 48.2% $68

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Aden

$1.3 * 0.1% 98.3% $74

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Aden

$37 2.6% 44.9% $30

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,015 in Cape Town versus $235 in Aden. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 321% higher in Cape Town, which partly offsets the higher cost of living there. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $47.00 in Cape Town versus $36.00 in Aden. Groceries tell a different story – $222 in Cape Town vs $626 in Aden – so Cape Town wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇾🇪 Aden

🕒 Local time

12:15 12:15 PM

13:15 1:15 PM

1 h ahead of Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

508,489

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Yemeni Rial YER ﷼

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

1,000 YER = 4.24 USD

1,000 YER = 3.78 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

YER, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.06 USD). 1 EUR = 18.49 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

Yemeni Rial exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 236 YER (1,000 YER = 4.24 USD). 1 EUR = 264 YER (1,000 YER = 3.78 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Aden 5,910 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Aden

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Cape Town vs Aden: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 12% more than Aden, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from groceries. That's enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,352 per month in Cape Town and $2,098 in Aden. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Aden, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,568 in Cape Town and $1,399 in Aden. That's a gap of about 12%.

Kindergarten costs $261 per month in Cape Town and $32.98 in Aden. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Aden, where all-in costs run around $1,399, than in Cape Town at $1,568. In Aden it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

For digital nomads, it depends on budget. Aden costs $1,399 versus $1,568 in Cape Town. Both have workable remote work infrastructure, but the cost gap matters when income varies month to month.

If budget matters most, go with Aden. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Cape Town makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.