Baghdad vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Baghdad	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$904	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2108	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$423	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$724	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$260	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$568	$1598
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	60	63
😀 Quality of life	54	38
🏙️ Population	8.13M	1.27M

The cost of living in Baghdad is 2% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6020th and 5917th ($904 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in Iraq and South Africa, respectively. Check Iraq vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Baghdad compared to 1.7 months in Soweto. Baghdad ranked 1st best city to live in Iraq vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 5970th and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Baghdad vs Soweto infographic

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Prices in Baghdad vs Soweto

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

	Baghdad	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.16	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.3	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.39	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.92	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$3.25	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.42	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$440	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$274	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$818	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$501	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.2	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.98%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2856	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1066	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.77	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.87	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.89	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.43	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.47	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.74	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.69	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.63	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.17	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.03	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.17	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.51	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.59	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.45	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.64	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.2	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.64	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.9	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.43	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$30.9	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.1	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$167	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3882	$3805

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	$752
33 km or 21 mi	Abu Ghraib	$960
47 km or 29 mi	Al-Karmah	$833
49 km or 30 mi	Baqubah	$659
59 km or 37 mi	Fallujah	$817
89 km or 55 mi	Karbala	$580
96 km or 60 mi	Hillah	$651
104 km or 65 mi	Ramadi	$766
106 km or 66 mi	Samarra	$680
147 km or 91 mi	Kufa	$570
147 km or 91 mi	Najaf	$587
155 km or 96 mi	Tikrit	$641
159 km or 99 mi	Al Diwaniyah	$467
160 km or 100 mi	Kut	$626
190 km or 118 mi	Ilam	$659
235 km or 146 mi	Kirkuk	$508
240 km or 149 mi	Samawah	$582
262 km or 163 mi	Sulaymaniyah	$676
267 km or 166 mi	Kermanshah	$963
291 km or 181 mi	Marivan	$536
307 km or 191 mi	Amarah	$683
308 km or 191 mi	Nasiriyah	$672
318 km or 198 mi	Erbil	$854
322 km or 200 mi	Sanandaj	$449
324 km or 201 mi	Baneh	$531
356 km or 221 mi	Mosul	$597
364 km or 226 mi	Saqqez	$533
365 km or 227 mi	Khorramabad	$554
378 km or 235 mi	Piranshahr	$476
378 km or 235 mi	Mahabad	$458
381 km or 236 mi	Andimeshk	$577
387 km or 241 mi	Dezful	$583
389 km or 242 mi	Bukan	$536
404 km or 251 mi	Sinjar	$672
406 km or 252 mi	Borujerd	$505
410 km or 255 mi	Duhok	$646
411 km or 255 mi	Hamadan	$443
420 km or 261 mi	Malayer	$469
431 km or 268 mi	Miandoab	$540
433 km or 269 mi	Dorud	$513

Cities near Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$993
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$837
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$953
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$672
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$785
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$807
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$678
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$906
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$820
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$889
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$784
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$768
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$795
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$748
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$780
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$665
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$691
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$664
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$628
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$562
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$763
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$621
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$442
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$567
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$814
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$540
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$964
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1068
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$809
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$624
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003