Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and the Maldives

Name: Maldives
Address: MV

For one person, living costs are similar in Cape Town and in the Maldives: $1,568 and $1,501 a month, rent and utilities included.

76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
Learn more

Cape Town Living Index
72

Cost of Living Index in the Maldives
Learn more

Maldives Living Index

Jump to prices

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇲🇻 Maldives

$1,501

/mo nomad

😐 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 10.5% more expensive than the Maldives without rent, and 4.5% more expensive with rent.

😐 Family of 3: Cape Town is 8.3% more expensive than the Maldives without rent, and 0.8% more expensive with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 195

$6.54 MVR 101

80.12%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 772

$49.62 MVR 765

-6.19%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.9

$10.00 MVR 154

-40.40%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.97 MVR 76.6

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$9.82 MVR 151

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 41.01

$3.27 MVR 50.4

-24.46%

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

$1.33 R 22.03

$1.51 MVR 23.32

-11.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 17.08

$0.31 MVR 4.81

232.26%

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

$1.88 MVR 29.01

-26.06%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.70

$1.56 MVR 24.10

-23.72%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 35.02

$1.04 MVR 16.04

102.88%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.84

$1.75 MVR 27.04

72.00%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 149

$6.18 MVR 95.4

44.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$6.75 MVR 104

-1.48%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 154

$10.03 MVR 155

-7.38%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.28

$3.98 MVR 61.3

-54.02%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.47

$2.99 MVR 46.12

-36.45%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.98

$3.88 MVR 59.8

-54.90%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.59

$2.56 MVR 39.48

-18.36%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.78

$1.75 MVR 26.93

-11.43%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.65

$1.75 MVR 26.99

-14.86%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.53

$2.23 MVR 34.38

-41.70%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.29

$0.60 MVR 9.25

93.33%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$11.14 MVR 172

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.53 MVR 39.01

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 MVR 71.1

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.5

$15.06 MVR 232

-75.37%

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

$0.68 MVR 10.51

122.06%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,011

$28.89 MVR 446

111.01%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.38

$1.89 MVR 29.15

-66.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.42

$1.95 MVR 30.12

-21.54%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.8

$8.02 MVR 124

-40.02%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.22

$0.99 MVR 15.19

59.60%

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

$35.5K R 588.7K

$31.7K MVR 489.3K

11.86%

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

$31.7K R 526.6K

$29.9K MVR 460.5K

6.31%

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

$116 R 1,930

$132 MVR 2,038

-11.94%

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

$28.37 R 471

$30.76 MVR 474

-7.77%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 675

$68.3 MVR 1,052

-40.38%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 810

$63.4 MVR 978

-22.99%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 185

$21.44 MVR 331

-48.09%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$9.03 MVR 139

-2.21%

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

$261 R 4,336

$183 MVR 2,826

42.68%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 111.2K

$2,922 MVR 45.1K

129.37%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 919

$37.67 MVR 581

47.07%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 535

$50.1 MVR 772

-35.58%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,949

$86.1 MVR 1,327

36.53%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,775

$51.9 MVR 800

106.34%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.8K

$911 MVR 14.0K

11.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.9K

$672 MVR 10.4K

6.48%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.9K

$1,927 MVR 29.7K

-6.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.1K

$1,467 MVR 22.6K

-9.29%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.7K

$2,641 MVR 40.7K

-11.73%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.1K

$781 MVR 12.0K

93.68%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.1K

$783 MVR 12.1K

108.93%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

-21.64%

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for the Maldives: October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Maldives

$672 45.5% 6.1% $44

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Maldives

$219 14.8% 1.5% $3.4

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Maldives

$231 15.7% 24.7% $46

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Maldives

$129 8.7% 25.8% $45

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Maldives

$102 6.9% 27.7% $39

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Maldives

$43 2.9% 42.5% $32

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Maldives

$81 5.5% 22.5% $15

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇲🇻 Maldives

🕒 Local time

08:31 8:31 AM

11:31 11:31 AM

3 h ahead of Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

436,330

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Maldivian Rufiyaa MVR Rf

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.03 USD

100 ZAR = 5.38 EUR

100 MVR = 6.49 USD

100 MVR = 5.78 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MVR, 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).

Maldivian Rufiyaa exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 15.42 MVR (100 MVR = 6.49 USD). 1 EUR = 17.29 MVR (100 MVR = 5.78 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Maldives 7,160 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Maldives

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

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