Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cape Town and the United Kingdom

Name: United Kingdom
Address: GB

For one person, living is cheaper in Cape Town: $1,568 a month against $2,457 in the United Kingdom, rent and utilities included – about $10,700 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
119

Cost of Living Index in the United Kingdom
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United Kingdom Living Index

Jump to prices

Cape Town

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,568

/mo nomad

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,457

/mo nomad

🙂 Solo nomad: Cape Town is 28.8% cheaper than the United Kingdom without rent, and 36.2% cheaper with rent.

🙂 Family of 3: Cape Town is 32.2% cheaper than the United Kingdom without rent, and 28.8% cheaper with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.78 R 194

$21.38 £16.16

-44.90%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.55 R 768

$84.5 £63.9

-44.90%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.96 R 98.4

$10.54 £7.96

-43.45%

Cappuccino

$2.47 R 40.80

$4.85 £3.66

-49.07%

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

$1.33 R 21.91

$2.53 £1.91

-47.43%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R 16.99

$1.84 £1.39

-44.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.01 R 49.72

$6.81 £5.14

-55.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 R 60.4

$6.51 £4.92

-43.78%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 R 22.96

$1.68 £1.27

-17.26%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 R 19.60

$1.71 £1.29

-30.41%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 34.84

$2.25 £1.70

-6.22%

Eggs

$3.01 R 49.58

$3.96 £2.99

-23.99%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.96 R 148

$9.53 £7.20

-5.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 R 110

$8.97 £6.77

-25.86%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.29 R 153

$14.70 £11.11

-36.80%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 R 30.13

$2.91 £2.20

-37.11%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 R 31.31

$1.62 £1.22

17.28%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 R 28.83

$2.86 £2.16

-38.81%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.09 R 34.41

$3.44 £2.60

-39.24%

Potato (1kg)

$1.55 R 25.64

$1.72 £1.30

-9.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.49 R 24.53

$1.54 £1.16

-3.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.30 R 21.41

$1.23 £0.93

5.69%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 R 19.19

$1.65 £1.24

-29.70%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.71 R 61.2

$23.34 £17.63

-84.10%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.06 R 100

$10.71 £8.10

-43.42%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 22.85

$3.01 £2.27

-53.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 R 36.32

$3.30 £2.50

-33.33%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.51 R 24.98

$3.48 £2.63

-56.61%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$61.0 R 1,006

$101 £76.0

-39.39%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.63 R 10.33

$5.39 £4.07

-88.31%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.53 R 25.29

$2.38 £1.79

-35.71%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.81 R 79.4

$26.80 £20.25

-82.05%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 R 26.08

$2.01 £1.52

-21.39%

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

$35.5K R 585.7K

$38.0K £28.7K

-6.54%

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

$31.7K R 523.8K

$40.6K £30.7K

-21.79%

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

$116 R 1,920

$318 £240

-63.36%

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

$28.37 R 468

$18.35 £13.87

54.60%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.69 R 671

$41.75 £31.55

-2.54%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.85 R 806

$46.41 £35.07

5.26%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.13 R 184

$18.28 £13.82

-39.11%

Cinema Ticket

$8.83 R 146

$13.28 £10.04

-33.51%

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

$261 R 4,314

$1,731 £1,308

-84.90%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,702 R 110.6K

$22.3K £16.8K

-69.89%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.4 R 914

$92.4 £69.9

-40.06%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.27 R 532

$46.27 £34.96

-30.26%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 R 1,939

$101 £76.5

16.08%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 R 1,766

$102 £76.7

5.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,015 R 16.7K

$1,321 £998

-23.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$715 R 11.8K

$1,086 £821

-34.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,801 R 29.7K

$2,158 £1,631

-16.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,330 R 22.0K

$1,708 £1,290

-22.09%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,331 R 38.5K

$5,523 £4,174

-57.80%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,513 R 25.0K

$4,320 £3,265

-64.98%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,636 R 27.0K

$3,264 £2,466

-49.87%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.97

5.32

106.20%

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 United Kingdom: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cape Town

$715 45.3%

United Kingdom

$1.1K 44.3% 51.8% $371

Groceries & Markets

Cape Town

$222 14.1%

United Kingdom

$305 12.4% 37.2% $83

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cape Town

$185 11.7%

United Kingdom

$378 15.4% 104% $192

Eating Out

Cape Town

$174 11%

United Kingdom

$325 13.3% 87.4% $152

Clothing & Footwear

Cape Town

$141 8.9%

United Kingdom

$154 6.3% 9.4% $13

Getting Around

Cape Town

$75 4.8%

United Kingdom

$132 5.4% 75% $56

Sport & Entertainment

Cape Town

$67 4.2%

United Kingdom

$73 3% 9.7% $6.5

Good to know

🇿🇦 Cape Town

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

🕒 Local time

13:32 1:32 PM

12:32 12:32 PM

1 h behind Cape Town

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,740,026 Capital

67,326,569

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

1 GBP = 1.32 USD

1 GBP = 1.18 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, 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 = 18.49 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 0.756 GBP (1 GBP = 1.32 USD). 1 EUR = 0.847 GBP (1 GBP = 1.18 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cape Town United Kingdom 9,670 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Cape Town
United Kingdom

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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