Moving abroad can transform a South African salary — but the cost of everyday life often changes even more dramatically. Popular destinations such as London, Perth, Auckland and Dubai continue to attract South Africans, yet monthly expenses in these cities differ sharply from those in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
Fresh September 2026 data from Expatistan highlights the gaps. Using Cape Town as the benchmark (the city with the most complete figures across all seven locations), London’s overall cost of living sits 191% higher. Perth is 90% more expensive, Auckland 64% higher, and Dubai 71% above Cape Town levels.
Everyday costs tell part of the story. A basic lunchtime meal averages around R130 in Cape Town. The same meal climbs to roughly R335 in London, R253 in Perth, R243 in Auckland and R279 in Dubai.
Housing drives an even bigger wedge. A furnished 85-square-metre home in a normal neighbourhood costs about R17 061 a month in Cape Town. Comparable rent reaches R28 140 in Auckland and R40 086 in Dubai, with London and Perth also significantly higher.
South Africa’s own major cities are not uniform either. Johannesburg is currently about 6% more expensive overall than Cape Town, while Durban sits roughly 10% cheaper. That puts Johannesburg around 17% above Durban in the latest comparison. Rent again explains much of the difference: the same 85-square-metre furnished flat averages R17 061 in Cape Town, R12 172 in Johannesburg and R9 307 in Durban. Premium or city-centre areas can, of course, flip some of these rankings.
A lower price tag is never the full picture. Transport, healthcare, schooling, insurance and lifestyle spending all shape a household budget. Currency exchange rates also matter: South Africans earning in pounds, Australian or New Zealand dollars, or UAE dirhams face a different calculation when converting income or savings.
Expatistan itself cautions that several of these figures are estimates drawn from limited user-submitted prices. The Cape Town–London comparison, for example, rests on 456 prices from 56 contributors, while the Perth data draws on 250 prices from 22 people.
For anyone weighing a move, the useful question is therefore not simply “where is life cheaper?” but how rent, food, transport and other regular costs line up against the income available in each location.re life costs less; it is how rent, food, transport and other regular expenses compare with the income available there.
