Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Portugal

Name: Portugal
Address: PT

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,568 a month against $1,722 in Portugal, rent and utilities included – about $1,800 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
83

Cost of Living Index in Portugal
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Portugal Living Index

Jump to prices

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇵🇹 Portugal

$1,722

/mo nomad

🙂 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 0.8% cheaper than Portugal without rent, and 8.9% cheaper with rent.

🙂 Family of 3: Cape Town is 5.5% cheaper than Portugal without rent, and 0.4% more expensive with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$13.72 €12.24

-14.14%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$49.58 €44.25

-6.11%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$9.90 €8.84

-39.80%

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$2.08 €1.86

18.75%

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

$1.33 R 21.91

$1.94 €1.73

-31.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$1.39 €1.24

-25.90%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.72

$2.75 €2.45

9.45%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.4

$3.42 €3.06

7.02%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 22.96

$1.05 €0.93

32.38%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$1.57 €1.40

-24.20%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$1.58 €1.41

33.54%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$3.52 €3.14

-14.49%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$11.42 €10.19

-21.54%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$7.61 €6.79

-12.61%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$15.12 €13.49

-38.56%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$2.17 €1.94

-15.67%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$1.46 €1.30

30.14%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$1.76 €1.57

-0.57%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$2.49 €2.22

-16.06%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$1.69 €1.51

-8.28%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$1.93 €1.72

-22.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$1.46 €1.30

-10.96%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$0.75 €0.67

54.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$6.23 €5.56

-40.45%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 100

$5.67 €5.06

6.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

$1.24 €1.10

12.10%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.32

$2.22 €1.99

-0.90%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 24.98

$2.31 €2.06

-34.63%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

$44.41 €39.63

37.27%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

$4.02 €3.59

-84.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

$1.05 €0.94

45.71%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

$17.09 €15.25

-71.85%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$2.14 €1.91

-26.17%

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

$35.5K R 585.7K

$34.4K €30.7K

3.25%

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

$31.7K R 523.8K

$37.7K €33.7K

-15.83%

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

$116 R 1,920

$134 €120

-13.25%

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

$28.37 R 468

$19.87 €17.73

42.78%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

$40.89 €36.49

-0.49%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$41.58 €37.11

17.48%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$15.99 €14.27

-30.39%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$8.93 €7.97

-1.12%

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

$261 R 4,314

$491 €438

-46.74%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$11.5K €10.3K

-41.77%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

$86.2 €76.9

-35.69%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$40.20 €35.88

-19.73%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

$88.2 €78.7

33.29%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$99.6 €88.9

7.49%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$1,022 €912

-0.71%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$823 €735

-13.12%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$1,724 €1,539

4.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$1,303 €1,163

2.10%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$3,911 €3,490

-40.41%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$2,821 €2,517

-46.36%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$1,291 €1,153

26.68%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

3.74

193.32%

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Portugal: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Portugal

$823 47.6% 15.1% $108

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Portugal

$249 14.4% 12% $27

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Portugal

$195 11.3% 5.1% $9.5

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Portugal

$198 11.5% 14.2% $25

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Portugal

$141 8.2% 0.6% $0.8

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Portugal

$63 3.6% 16.4% $12

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Portugal

$59 3.4% 10.6% $7.1

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇵🇹 Portugal

🕒 Local time

14:27 2:27 PM

13:27 1:27 PM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

10,347,892

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD 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).

Euro exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Portugal 8,560 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Portugal

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 other spots: cost of living compared

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