Beijing vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Beijing	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1065	$881
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3114	$2144
🏠 One person rent	$605	$484
🏘️ Family rent	$1364	$966
🍽️ Food expenses	$253	$259
🚐 Transport expenses	$108	$56.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1709	$1518
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	55
😀 Quality of life	78	60
🏙️ Population	21.9M	434K

The cost of living in Beijing is 21% more expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 4887th and 6078th ($1065 vs $881) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 10th 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 1.6 months in Beijing compared to 1.7 months in Cape Town. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Cape Town ranked 3rd in South Africa, while ranked 583rd and 5406th 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	$3.9	$7.47
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.6	$31.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.54	$4.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$2.04
☕ Cappuccino	$3.83	$1.94
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$843	$536
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$487	$353
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2089	$1202
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$749
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.7	$56.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.3	$87
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.6	$39.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.35%	11.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14972	$1890
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8057	$1307
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$1.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$35.5	$34.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.9	$7.17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.19	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.01	$1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.53	$0.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.97	$2.39
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.96
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$5.26
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$1.4
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.39
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.31
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.29	$1.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.5	$4.51
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$1.14
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.64	$2.62
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$4.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$2.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$2.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.2	$31.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.44	$5.42
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.8	$32.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$10.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.7	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.6	$81.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$896	$172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27310	$4013

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$733
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$713
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$772
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$633
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$650
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$688
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$583
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$678
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$466
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$667
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$677
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$658
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$587
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$700
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$633
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$607
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$539
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$549
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$643
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$637
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$594
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$592
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$525
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$633
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$545
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$569
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$527
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$650
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$572
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$486
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$707
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$598
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$667
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$621
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$640
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$643
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$587
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$640
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$506

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$773
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$632
371 km or 231 mi	George	$684
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$805
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$866
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$643
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$704
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$703
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$753
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$710
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$683
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$511
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$535
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$689
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$682
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$765
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$701
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$719
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$738
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$631
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$633
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$637
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$875
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$845
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$656
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$603
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$908
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$776
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$807
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$889
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$780
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$751
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$718