Addis Ababa vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Addis Ababa	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1148	$1386
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2790	$3160
🏠 One person rent	$674	$775
🏘️ Family rent	$1109	$1348
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$359
🚐 Transport expenses	$60.2	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$184	$405
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	34	55
😀 Quality of life	45	58
🏙️ Population	5.7M	3.78M

The cost of living in Addis Ababa is 17% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 4878th and 4336th ($1148 vs $1386) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Ethiopia and South Africa, respectively. Check Ethiopia vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Addis Ababa compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Addis Ababa ranked 1st best city to live in Ethiopia vs Cape Town ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 7160th and 6134th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/addis-ababa/cape-town.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Addis Ababa vs Cape Town infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/addis-ababa/cape-town" target="_blank">Addis Ababa vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Addis Ababa vs Cape Town

Prices for goods and services in Addis Ababa and Cape Town are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Addis Ababa	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.98	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$42.1	$48.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.55	$6.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.82	$3.03
☕ Cappuccino	$0.93	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$632	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$431	$591
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1134	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$774	$1075
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$108	$72.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$167	$112
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$95.7	$41.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.33%	11.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1943	$2325
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1220	$1508
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.48	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.81	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.94	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$1.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.16	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.75	$2.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.42	$8.53
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$6.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$8.45
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.35	$1.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.88
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$2.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.55	$1.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.58	$6.22
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.71	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.83	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.32	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$0.94	$3.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.38	$2.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.55	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.1	$49.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.76	$9.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$128	$37.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.44	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$33.8	$58.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.5	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$127	$272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30429	$6197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$910
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$931
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$746
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$800
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$1050
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$1050
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$923
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$1045
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$563
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$561
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$521
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$748
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$590
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$753
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$682
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$564
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$481
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$872
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$513
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$484
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$483
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$947
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$476
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$497
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$494
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$499
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$509
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$788
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$488
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$505
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$745
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$478
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$476
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$513
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$532
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$803
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$809
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$591
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$543
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$834

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893