Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Qatar

Name: Qatar
Address: QA

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,568 a month against $1,879 in Qatar, rent and utilities included – about $3,700 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
89

Cost of Living Index in Qatar
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Qatar Living Index

Jump to prices

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇶🇦 Qatar

$1,879

/mo nomad

🙂 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 6.1% cheaper than Qatar without rent, and 16.6% cheaper with rent.

🙂 Family of 3: Cape Town is 9.9% cheaper than Qatar without rent, and 21.1% cheaper with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$8.08 QAR 29.37

45.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$65.3 QAR 237

-28.70%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$8.05 QAR 29.28

-25.96%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$13.43 QAR 48.85

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$13.49 QAR 49.07

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$5.49 QAR 19.96

-55.01%

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

$1.33 R 21.91

$0.87 QAR 3.16

52.87%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$0.37 QAR 1.35

178.38%

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

$2.06 QAR 7.48

-32.52%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$1.51 QAR 5.51

-21.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$2.08 QAR 7.55

1.44%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$3.17 QAR 11.53

-5.05%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$9.15 QAR 33.27

-2.08%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$7.57 QAR 27.52

-12.15%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$10.00 QAR 36.35

-7.10%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$2.05 QAR 7.46

-10.73%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$1.76 QAR 6.39

7.95%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$1.63 QAR 5.95

7.36%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$1.19 QAR 4.32

75.63%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$0.88 QAR 3.20

76.14%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$0.88 QAR 3.19

69.32%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$1.20 QAR 4.38

8.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$0.55 QAR 2.00

110.91%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$10.10 QAR 36.72

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.03 QAR 7.38

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.01 QAR 10.93

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$6.20 QAR 22.53

-40.16%

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

$0.54 QAR 1.95

179.63%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

$26.91 QAR 97.9

126.53%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

$2.14 QAR 7.79

-70.56%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

$1.88 QAR 6.84

-18.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

$8.15 QAR 29.65

-40.98%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$0.55 QAR 2.00

187.27%

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

$35.5K R 585.7K

$28.7K QAR 104.4K

23.68%

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

$31.7K R 523.8K

$21.6K QAR 78.6K

46.95%

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

$116 R 1,920

$91.7 QAR 333

26.96%

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

$28.37 R 468

$43.03 QAR 157

-34.07%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

$86.3 QAR 314

-52.87%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$123 QAR 448

-60.33%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$20.17 QAR 73.4

-44.82%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$12.12 QAR 44.08

-27.15%

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

$261 R 4,314

$716 QAR 2,603

-63.47%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$9,431 QAR 34.3K

-28.93%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

$55.3 QAR 201

0.14%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$52.6 QAR 191

-38.59%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

$93.9 QAR 341

25.18%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$83.5 QAR 304

28.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$1,538 QAR 5,592

-33.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$938 QAR 3,410

-23.70%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$2,813 QAR 10.2K

-35.97%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$2,016 QAR 7,332

-34.00%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$4,475 QAR 16.3K

-47.92%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$2,989 QAR 10.9K

-49.39%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$4,089 QAR 14.9K

-59.99%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

5.22

110.15%

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Qatar: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Qatar

$938 51.1% 31.1% $222

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Qatar

$201 11% 9.6% $21

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Qatar

$221 12% 19.2% $36

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Qatar

$160 8.7% 8.1% $14

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Qatar

$128 7% 8.6% $12

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Qatar

$41 2.2% 46.1% $35

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Qatar

$147 8% 122% $81

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇶🇦 Qatar

🕒 Local time

07:05 7:05 AM

08:05 8:05 AM

1 h ahead of Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

2,639,211

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Qatari Riyal QAR ر.ق

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

1 QAR = 0.275 USD

1 QAR = 0.245 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

QAR, 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 = 18.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR).

Qatari Riyal exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 3.64 QAR (1 QAR = 0.275 USD). 1 EUR = 4.08 QAR (1 QAR = 0.245 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Qatar 7,460 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Qatar

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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