Baghdad vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Baghdad	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$918	$1231
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2092	$2814
🏠 One person rent	$446	$681
🏘️ Family rent	$728	$1180
🍽️ Food expenses	$256	$322
🚐 Transport expenses	$146	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$502	$352
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	57	56
😀 Quality of life	58	55
🏙️ Population	8.13M	3.78M

The cost of living in Baghdad is 25% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 6120th and 4637th ($918 vs $1231) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Iraq and South Africa, respectively. Check Iraq vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Baghdad compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Baghdad ranked 1st best city to live in Iraq vs Cape Town ranked 5th in South Africa, while ranked 6065th and 6312th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Baghdad vs Cape Town infographic

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Prices in Baghdad vs Cape Town

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

	Baghdad	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.8	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.3	$46.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.59	$5.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.83	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.22	$2.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.38	$1.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$378	$761
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$257	$513
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$673	$1355
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$452	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$189	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$42.5	$43.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.71%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3092	$1957
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1298	$1290
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.78	$1.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$28.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.1	$10.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.56	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.84	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.71	$2.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$8.62
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$5.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$7.75
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.73
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$0.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.26	$1.67
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$5.78
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.11	$3.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.54	$5.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.62	$3.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.44	$2.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.46	$1.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.7	$43.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.64	$7.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$19	$37.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.39	$9.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$29.5	$56
👟 Brand Sneakers	$68.9	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$179	$228
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3566	$4978

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Baghdad

Distance	City	Cost of living
32 km or 20 mi	Ctesiphon	$761
33 km or 21 mi	Abu Ghraib	$961
47 km or 29 mi	Al-Karmah	$833
49 km or 30 mi	Baqubah	$672
59 km or 37 mi	Fallujah	$823
89 km or 55 mi	Karbala	$588
96 km or 60 mi	Hillah	$688
104 km or 65 mi	Ramadi	$768
106 km or 66 mi	Samarra	$677
147 km or 91 mi	Kufa	$555
147 km or 91 mi	Najaf	$570
155 km or 96 mi	Tikrit	$631
159 km or 99 mi	Al Diwaniyah	$474
160 km or 100 mi	Kut	$630
190 km or 118 mi	Ilam	$646
235 km or 146 mi	Kirkuk	$507
240 km or 149 mi	Samawah	$583
262 km or 163 mi	Sulaymaniyah	$672
267 km or 166 mi	Kermanshah	$946
291 km or 181 mi	Marivan	$509
307 km or 191 mi	Amarah	$681
308 km or 191 mi	Nasiriyah	$669
318 km or 198 mi	Erbil	$845
322 km or 200 mi	Sanandaj	$434
324 km or 201 mi	Baneh	$492
356 km or 221 mi	Mosul	$588
364 km or 226 mi	Saqqez	$497
365 km or 227 mi	Khorramabad	$540
378 km or 235 mi	Piranshahr	$433
378 km or 235 mi	Mahabad	$409
381 km or 236 mi	Andimeshk	$560
387 km or 241 mi	Dezful	$566
389 km or 242 mi	Bukan	$492
404 km or 251 mi	Sinjar	$402
406 km or 252 mi	Borujerd	$494
410 km or 255 mi	Duhok	$619
411 km or 255 mi	Hamadan	$430
420 km or 261 mi	Malayer	$457
431 km or 268 mi	Miandoab	$489
433 km or 269 mi	Dorud	$508

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857