Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Southwark and Harare

For one person, living is cheaper in Harare: $1,018 a month against $1,486 in Southwark, rent and utilities included – about $5,600 less a year. The total is higher in Southwark despite lower rent and utilities.

72

Cost of Living Index in Southwark
Learn more

Southwark Living Index
49

Cost of Living Index in Harare
Learn more

Harare Living Index

Jump to prices

Southwark

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,486

/mo nomad

Harare

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

$1,018

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Southwark and in Harare

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Southwark and in Harare actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,486 in Southwark versus $1,018 in Harare.

Southwark $1,486
Harare $1,018

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,262 in Southwark versus $1,696 in Harare.

Southwark $4,262
Harare $1,696

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $7,038 in Southwark versus $2,375 in Harare.

Southwark $7,038
Harare $2,375

Living in Southwark is roughly 46% more expensive than in Harare, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Southwark is 10% above, Harare is 25% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$25.00 £18.76

$9.95 ZWL 265

151.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$101 £75.6

$45.58 ZWL 1,213

121.11%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.67 £8.00

$5.63 ZWL 150

89.52%

Cappuccino

$5.70 £4.28

$2.98 ZWL 79.3

91.28%

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

$3.05 £2.29

$0.94 ZWL 24.95

224.47%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.60 £1.95

$0.45 ZWL 11.98

477.78%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$9.29 £6.97

$0.99 ZWL 26.31

838.38%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$8.28 £6.21

$1.95 ZWL 51.8

324.62%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 £1.44

$1.53 ZWL 40.78

25.49%

White Bread (500g)

$2.05 £1.54

$1.02 ZWL 27.05

100.98%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 £1.65

$1.66 ZWL 44.16

32.53%

Eggs

$4.38 £3.29

$1.98 ZWL 52.7

121.21%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.90 £8.93

$11.37 ZWL 303

4.66%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.07 £6.80

$5.40 ZWL 144

67.96%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.57 £11.68

$6.79 ZWL 181

129.31%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 £2.29

$3.06 ZWL 81.4

-0.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 £1.08

$1.63 ZWL 43.25

-11.66%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.98 £2.24

$2.05 ZWL 54.6

45.37%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.52 £2.64

$1.52 ZWL 40.50

131.58%

Potato (1kg)

$1.66 £1.25

$1.73 ZWL 46.09

-4.05%

Onion (1kg)

$1.79 £1.34

$1.80 ZWL 47.94

-0.56%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.36 £1.02

$1.29 ZWL 34.35

5.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.86 £1.39

$1.00 ZWL 26.67

86.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.44 £17.59

$1.95 ZWL 51.8

1102.05%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.16 £9.12

$8.33 ZWL 222

45.98%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.05 £2.29

$1.38 ZWL 36.62

121.01%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 £2.42

$1.97 ZWL 52.4

63.45%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.89 £2.92

$0.98 ZWL 26.02

296.94%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$157 £118

$60.8 ZWL 1,618

158.00%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 £3.73

$3.88 ZWL 103

28.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.72 £2.04

$2.05 ZWL 54.6

32.68%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$39.66 £29.75

$5.12 ZWL 136

674.61%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.15 £1.62

$1.79 ZWL 47.75

20.11%

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

$37.9K £28.4K

$21.9K ZWL 582.6K

72.88%

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

$39.9K £30.0K

$27.2K ZWL 722.7K

47.10%

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

$335 £251

$50.7 ZWL 1,348

560.79%

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

$18.37 £13.78

$21.89 ZWL 583

-16.08%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.35 £30.27

$69.5 ZWL 1,849

-41.93%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$47.15 ZWL 1,255

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.40 ZWL 596

Cinema Ticket

$18.05 £13.54

$10.18 ZWL 271

77.31%

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

$2,557 £1,919

$467 ZWL 12.4K

447.97%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.4K £22.8K

$8,608 ZWL 229.1K

253.43%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$93.1 £69.9

$23.43 ZWL 623

297.35%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$46.53 £34.91

$21.48 ZWL 572

116.62%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$103 £77.5

$38.24 ZWL 1,018

170.11%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.0 £67.5

$40.39 ZWL 1,075

122.70%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,307 £1,731

$384 ZWL 10.2K

501.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$311 ZWL 8,284

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$5,586 £4,190

$835 ZWL 22.2K

568.53%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,792 £2,844

$743 ZWL 19.8K

410.18%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$939 ZWL 25.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$393 ZWL 10.4K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,185 £3,140

$419 ZWL 11.2K

898.06%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.12

13.69

-62.60%

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

Last update for Southwark: October 18, 2026

Last update for Harare: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Southwark

$393 26.5%

Harare

$142 14% 63.9% $251

Eating Out

Southwark

$386 26%

Harare

$147 14.4% 62% $239

Groceries & Markets

Southwark

$329 22.2%

Harare

$216 21.2% 34.5% $114

Getting Around

Southwark

$191 12.9%

Harare

$79 7.8% 58.7% $112

Clothing & Footwear

Southwark

$150 10.1%

Harare

$56 5.5% 62.9% $94

Sport & Entertainment

Southwark

$36 * 2.4%

Harare

$68 6.6% 87% $31

Accommodation & Living

Southwark

- * 0%

Harare

$311 30.6%

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,307 in Southwark and $384 in Harare. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Southwark pays 898% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $101 in Southwark vs $46.00 in Harare for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $329 vs $216 per month, with Harare cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Southwark

🇿🇼 Harare

🕒 Local time

12:37 12:37 PM

13:37 1:37 PM

1 h ahead of Southwark

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

71,552

1,606,000 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Zimbabwean Dollar ZWL $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 ZWL = 3.76 USD

100 ZWL = 3.34 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZWL, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Zimbabwean Dollar exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 26.61 ZWL (100 ZWL = 3.76 USD). 1 EUR = 29.92 ZWL (100 ZWL = 3.34 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Southwark Harare 8,280 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Southwark
Harare

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

Southwark vs Harare: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Harare is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and transport. The 46% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 898% higher in Southwark, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $2,307 in Southwark versus $384 in Harare. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,557 in Southwark versus $467 in Harare. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 53% higher in Southwark. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,018 in Harare versus $1,486 in Southwark, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Harare but tight or insufficient in Southwark. The gap between the two cities makes Harare the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Harare is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Southwark, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Expats usually find Harare gentler on the wallet – expenses run 46% less than in Southwark. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.