Beijing vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$1071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$2522
🏠 One person rent	$575	$582
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$1083
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$273
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$1532
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	56
😀 Quality of life	75	58
🏙️ Population	21.9M	3.78M

The cost of living in Beijing is 5% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 5387th and 5016th ($1016 vs $1071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 3rd in China and South Africa, respectively. Check China vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.4 months in Cape Town. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Cape Town ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 989th and 5491st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Cape Town infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs Cape Town

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

	Beijing	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$8.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$32.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$4.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2.58
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$677
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$435
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$1304
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$863
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$59.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$93.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$38.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	11.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$1804
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$1180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$39
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$8.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.48
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$8.33
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$5.42
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$7.24
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.45
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.33
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$1.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$5.48
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$4.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$34.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$6.22
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$35.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$8.05
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$51
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$204
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$4806

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740