Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Asuncion

For one person, living is cheaper in Asuncion: $1,032 a month against $1,527 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $5,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

74

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
50

Cost of Living Index in Asuncion
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Asuncion Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,527

/mo nomad

Asuncion

🇵🇾 Paraguay

$1,032

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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 Asuncion actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,527 per month in Cape Town vs $1,032 in Asuncion, rent included.

Cape Town $1,527
Asuncion $1,032

A couple spends around $2,417 per month in Cape Town vs $1,625 in Asuncion, rent included.

Cape Town $2,417
Asuncion $1,625

A family of three spends $3,306 per month in Cape Town vs $2,217 in Asuncion, rent included.

Cape Town $3,306
Asuncion $2,217

Cape Town costs about 48% more than Asuncion, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Cape Town sits 13% above the global median, while Asuncion is 24% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.01 R 198

$7.19 ₲45.7K

67.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.92 R 707

$42.94 ₲273.0K

-0.05%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.15 R 101

$6.58 ₲41.9K

-6.53%

Cappuccino

$2.37 R 39.04

$3.28 ₲20.9K

-27.74%

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

$1.27 R 20.96

$1.01 ₲6,391

25.74%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.94 R 15.46

$0.55 ₲3,521

70.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 R 48.77

$2.06 ₲13.1K

43.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.69 R 60.8

$1.68 ₲10.7K

119.64%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 R 21.73

$1.24 ₲7,913

6.45%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 19.87

$1.42 ₲8,997

-14.79%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 R 36.26

$1.30 ₲8,297

69.23%

Eggs

$3.10 R 51.1

$2.39 ₲15.2K

29.71%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.73 R 144

$9.44 ₲60.0K

-7.52%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.89 R 114

$5.10 ₲32.4K

35.10%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.26 R 153

$9.66 ₲61.4K

-4.14%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.08

$3.00 ₲19.1K

-39.00%

Banana (1kg)

$1.95 R 32.12

$1.25 ₲7,930

56.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 R 27.32

$1.16 ₲7,361

43.10%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.19

$2.42 ₲15.4K

-11.57%

Potato (1kg)

$1.58 R 26.01

$1.32 ₲8,365

19.70%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 R 24.29

$1.33 ₲8,443

10.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.35 R 22.18

$0.85 ₲5,388

58.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 R 18.85

$0.69 ₲4,364

65.22%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.58 R 59.0

$2.34 ₲14.9K

52.99%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.05 R 99.7

$8.87 ₲56.4K

-31.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.95

$1.30 ₲8,283

6.92%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 R 35.90

$1.65 ₲10.5K

32.12%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 R 23.02

$0.59 ₲3,783

137.29%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$60.8 R 1,001

$35.97 ₲228.7K

68.89%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.93 R 15.26

$1.44 ₲9,129

-35.42%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.90 R 14.83

$1.53 ₲9,743

-41.18%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.96 R 81.7

$10.03 ₲63.8K

-50.55%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.54 R 25.37

$1.21 ₲7,681

27.27%

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

$35.4K R 582.8K

$16.8K ₲106.9M

110.34%

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

$33.4K R 549.9K

$29.2K ₲185.8M

14.19%

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

$117 R 1,929

$49.05 ₲311.9K

138.67%

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

$25.71 R 424

$16.79 ₲106.7K

53.13%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.41 R 649

$21.60 ₲137.4K

82.45%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.6 R 850

$35.35 ₲224.8K

46.00%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.35 R 187

$14.61 ₲92.9K

-22.31%

Cinema Ticket

$8.89 R 146

$8.51 ₲54.1K

4.47%

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

$308 R 5,069

$183 ₲1.2M

67.93%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,141 R 134.2K

$5,730 ₲36.4M

42.09%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.4 R 946

$63.2 ₲401.8K

-9.19%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$31.75 R 523

$56.7 ₲360.2K

-43.96%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 R 1,911

$104 ₲662.3K

11.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 R 1,660

$70.2 ₲446.2K

43.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 R 17.2K

$611 ₲3.9M

71.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$669 R 11.0K

$367 ₲2.3M

82.52%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,861 R 30.7K

$1,033 ₲6.6M

80.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,407 R 23.2K

$630 ₲4.0M

123.26%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,410 R 39.7K

$1,747 ₲11.1M

37.98%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R 25.9K

$1,234 ₲7.8M

27.16%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,630 R 26.9K

$676 ₲4.3M

141.18%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.89

10.15

7.29%

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

Last update for Cape Town: November 2, 2026

Last update for Asuncion: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$669 43.8%

Asuncion

$367 35.5% 45.2% $303

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$223 14.6%

Asuncion

$209 20.3% 6.3% $14

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$182 11.9%

Asuncion

$87 8.5% 52% $95

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11.4%

Asuncion

$137 13.2% 21.5% $37

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$138 9%

Asuncion

$132 12.8% 3.8% $5.2

Getting Around

Cape Town

$72 4.7%

Asuncion

$47 4.6% 33.9% $24

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$69 4.5%

Asuncion

$52 5.1% 24.5% $17

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,047 in Cape Town versus $611 in Asuncion. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Cape Town are about 2.4 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Cape Town versus $43 in Asuncion. Groceries tell a different story – $223 in Cape Town vs $209 in Asuncion – so Asuncion wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇵🇾 Asuncion

🕒 Local time

12:03 12:03 PM

07:03 7:03 AM

5 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

742,023 Capital

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Paraguayan Guarani PYG ₲

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.07 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

10,000 PYG = 1.57 USD

10,000 PYG = 1.4 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 16.48 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.07 USD). 1 EUR = 18.51 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

Paraguayan Guarani exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 6,358 PYG (10,000 PYG = 1.57 USD). 1 EUR = 7,141 PYG (10,000 PYG = 1.4 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town Asuncion 7,250 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Asuncion

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 Asuncion: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Cape Town is pricier by about 48%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,291 per month in Cape Town and $1,548 in Asuncion. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Asuncion, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $611 there versus $1,047 in Cape Town.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,527 in Cape Town and $1,032 in Asuncion. That makes Asuncion about 32% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $308 per month in Cape Town and $183 in Asuncion. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,500 monthly budget goes further in Asuncion, where all-in costs run around $1,032, than in Cape Town at $1,527. In Asuncion it covers expenses comfortably, while in Cape Town it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Asuncion – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

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