Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and Romania

Name: Romania
Address: RO

For one person, living is cheaper in Romania: $1,095 a month against $1,568 in Cape Town, rent and utilities included – about $5,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

76

Cost of Living Index in Cape Town
Learn more

Cape Town Living Index
54

Cost of Living Index in Romania
Learn more

Romania Living Index

Jump to prices

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,095

/mo nomad

😐 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 25.9% more expensive than Romania without rent, and 43.1% more expensive with rent.

😐 Family of 3: Cape Town is 17.6% more expensive than Romania without rent, and 47.1% more expensive with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$10.35 RON 48.95

13.82%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$41.76 RON 198

11.47%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$7.47 RON 35.35

-20.21%

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$2.84 RON 13.45

-13.03%

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

$1.33 R 21.91

$1.95 RON 9.21

-31.79%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$1.68 RON 7.94

-38.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.72

$2.30 RON 10.86

30.87%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.4

$3.24 RON 15.31

12.96%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 22.96

$1.47 RON 6.95

-5.44%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$1.16 RON 5.49

2.59%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$1.59 RON 7.54

32.70%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$3.18 RON 15.04

-5.35%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$8.02 RON 37.95

11.72%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$6.26 RON 29.61

6.23%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$10.53 RON 49.79

-11.78%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$1.21 RON 5.73

51.24%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$1.56 RON 7.40

21.79%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$1.55 RON 7.35

12.90%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$2.20 RON 10.41

-5.00%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$0.85 RON 4.02

82.35%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$0.82 RON 3.86

81.71%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$0.84 RON 3.99

54.76%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$0.85 RON 4.01

36.47%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$6.10 RON 28.85

-39.18%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 100

$6.21 RON 29.35

-2.42%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

$1.14 RON 5.38

21.93%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.32

$1.63 RON 7.69

34.97%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 24.98

$0.73 RON 3.45

106.85%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

$23.09 RON 109

164.01%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

$0.76 RON 3.60

-17.11%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

$0.76 RON 3.58

101.32%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

$7.20 RON 34.07

-33.19%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$1.76 RON 8.34

-10.23%

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

$35.5K R 585.7K

$28.6K RON 135.4K

23.96%

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

$31.7K R 523.8K

$24.9K RON 117.6K

27.74%

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

$116 R 1,920

$161 RON 764

-27.93%

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

$28.37 R 468

$8.01 RON 37.89

254.18%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

$8.84 RON 41.80

360.29%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$40.05 RON 189

21.97%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$18.90 RON 89.4

-41.11%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$7.29 RON 34.50

21.12%

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

$261 R 4,314

$469 RON 2,216

-44.20%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$8,762 RON 41.4K

-23.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

$68.8 RON 325

-19.43%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$37.50 RON 177

-13.95%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

$80.1 RON 379

46.65%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$84.2 RON 398

27.11%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$462 RON 2,186

119.60%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$342 RON 1,615

109.48%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$800 RON 3,784

125.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$589 RON 2,786

125.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$2,451 RON 11.6K

-4.92%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$1,819 RON 8,605

-16.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$975 RON 4,611

67.82%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

6.98

57.16%

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

Last update for Cape Town: October 4, 2026

Last update for Romania: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

Romania

$342 31% 52.3% $374

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

Romania

$204 18.5% 8.2% $18

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

Romania

$178 16.2% 3.8% $7.1

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

Romania

$172 15.6% 1.1% $1.9

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

Romania

$122 11% 13.3% $19

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

Romania

$31 2.8% 59.4% $45

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

Romania

$55 5% 17.8% $12

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇷🇴 Romania

🕒 Local time

08:09 8:09 AM

09:09 9:09 AM

1 h ahead of Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

19,053,815

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.4 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.189 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, 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).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.3 RON (1 RON = 0.189 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cape Town Romania 8,750 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
Romania

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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