Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Kabul

For one person, living is cheaper in Kabul: $511 a month against $1,568 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $12,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
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Cape Town Living Index
24

Cost of Living Index in Kabul
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Kabul Living Index

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Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

Kabul

🇦🇫 Afghanistan

$511

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

A single person spends $1,568 per month in Cape Town vs $511 in Kabul, rent included.

Cape Town $1,568
Kabul $511

A couple spends around $2,438 per month in Cape Town vs $684 in Kabul, rent included.

Cape Town $2,438
Kabul $684

A family of three spends $3,307 per month in Cape Town vs $857 in Kabul, rent included.

Cape Town $3,307
Kabul $857

Cape Town costs about 207% more than Kabul, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Cape Town sits 17% above the global median, while Kabul is 62% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 195

$2.70 ؋175

336.30%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 772

$7.89 ؋511

489.99%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.9

$4.51 ؋292

32.15%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.28 ؋148

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.88 ؋122

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 41.01

$1.09 ؋70.5

126.61%

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

$1.33 R 22.03

$0.45 ؋28.95

195.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 17.08

$0.17 ؋10.83

505.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.98

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.8

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 23.08

$0.81 ؋52.4

71.60%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.70

$0.25 ؋16.23

376.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 35.02

$1.86 ؋121

13.44%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.84

$1.54 ؋99.7

95.45%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 149

$4.46 ؋289

100.90%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$4.03 ؋261

65.01%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 154

$6.71 ؋434

38.45%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.28

$0.70 ؋45.11

161.43%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.47

$0.89 ؋57.4

113.48%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.98

$0.95 ؋61.5

84.21%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.59

$0.55 ؋35.47

280.00%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.78

$0.61 ؋39.34

154.10%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.65

$0.51 ؋32.74

192.16%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.53

$0.30 ؋19.48

333.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.29

$0.37 ؋23.89

213.51%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$1.81 ؋117

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.80 ؋52.0

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.02 ؋65.8

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.5

$2.42 ؋157

53.31%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 101

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.97

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.51

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 25.11

$0.13 ؋8.60

1061.54%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,011

$21.08 ؋1,366

189.18%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.38

$2.12 ؋138

-70.28%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.42

$0.45 ؋29.02

240.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.8

$2.77 ؋179

73.65%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.22

$1.08 ؋69.9

46.30%

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

$35.5K R 588.7K

$8,341 ؋540.2K

325.58%

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

$31.7K R 526.6K

$33.8K ؋2.2M

-5.98%

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

$116 R 1,930

$42.09 ؋2,726

176.50%

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

$28.37 R 471

$13.12 ؋850

116.23%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 675

$95.3 ؋6,174

-57.32%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 810

$11.15 ؋722

338.12%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 185

$4.11 ؋266

170.80%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$2.34 ؋152

277.35%

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

$261 R 4,336

$20.64 ؋1,337

1166.72%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 111.2K

$1,045 ؋67.7K

541.09%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 919

$10.71 ؋694

417.27%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 535

$15.93 ؋1,032

102.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,949

$57.8 ؋3,741

103.45%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,775

$25.51 ؋1,652

319.64%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.8K

$125 ؋8,092

712.34%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.9K

$109 ؋7,043

557.89%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.9K

$219 ؋14.2K

723.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.1K

$115 ؋7,463

1054.63%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.7K

$675 ؋43.7K

245.19%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.1K

$363 ؋23.5K

316.30%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.1K

$339 ؋21.9K

382.80%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Kabul: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Kabul

$109 21.6% 84.8% $607

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Kabul

$102 20.2% 54.3% $121

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Kabul

$151 29.9% 18.8% $35

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Kabul

$51 10.1% 70.9% $123

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Kabul

$49 9.8% 64.8% $91

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Kabul

$26 5.2% 65.5% $49

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Kabul

$16 3.2% 76.2% $51

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,015 in Cape Town versus $125 in Kabul. 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 383% 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 $8.00 in Kabul. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $222 vs $102 – making Kabul the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇦🇫 Kabul

🕒 Local time

04:49 4:49 AM

07:19 7:19 AM

2 h 30 min ahead of Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

3,289,000 Capital

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Afghanistan Afghani AFN ؋

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.03 USD

100 ZAR = 5.38 EUR

100 AFN = 1.54 USD

100 AFN = 1.38 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

AFN, 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 = 16.59 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.03 USD). 1 EUR = 18.6 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.38 EUR).

Afghanistan Afghani exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 64.76 AFN (100 AFN = 1.54 USD). 1 EUR = 72.64 AFN (100 AFN = 1.38 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Kabul 9,270 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Kabul

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 Kabul: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cape Town costs about 207% more than Kabul, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. 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 $767 in Kabul. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Kabul, 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 $511 in Kabul. That's a gap of about 207%.

Public transport costs about 189% less in Kabul. For daily commuters, that gap adds up to noticeable savings over a year.

A $2,000 monthly budget goes further in Kabul, where all-in costs run around $511, than in Cape Town at $1,568. In Kabul 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. Kabul costs $511 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 Kabul. 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.