Cape Town vs Chongqing - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Chongqing
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$561
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$1695
🏠 One person rent	$681	$180
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$312
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$217
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$76.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$914
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	56	87
😀 Quality of life	55	74
🏙️ Population	3.78M	32.1M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 120% more expensive than in Chongqing. Cities ranked 4637th and 8185th ($1231 vs $561) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 322nd in South Africa and China, respectively. Check South Africa vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 1.6 months in Chongqing. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Chongqing ranked 7th in China, while ranked 6312th and 2237th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Chongqing infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Chongqing

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

	Cape Town	Chongqing
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$2.82
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$20.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$4.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$0.98
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$0.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$240
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$129
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$433
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$231
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$20.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$32
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$8.46
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	3.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$2367
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$1345
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$21
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$3.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.52
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.42
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$1.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$14.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$2.92
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$10.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.59
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$0.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$0.88
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$0.96
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$0.82
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$2.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$6.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.09
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$2.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$33.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$5.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$58.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$7.17
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$42.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$66
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$271
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$23821

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Chongqing

Distance	City	Cost of living
97 km or 60 mi	Huaying	$542
103 km or 64 mi	Guang'an	$569
120 km or 75 mi	Longchang	$575
127 km or 79 mi	Luzhou	$562
140 km or 87 mi	Suining	$565
140 km or 87 mi	Neijiang	$645
145 km or 90 mi	Nanchong	$541
170 km or 106 mi	Zigong	$573
183 km or 113 mi	Shehong	$551
191 km or 119 mi	Ziyang	$598
194 km or 120 mi	Renhuai	$538
201 km or 125 mi	Yibin	$570
208 km or 129 mi	Dazhou	$583
209 km or 130 mi	Zunyi	$551
211 km or 131 mi	Jianyang	$591
232 km or 144 mi	Langzhong	$538
249 km or 154 mi	Lichuan	$557
258 km or 160 mi	Bazhong	$601
264 km or 164 mi	Meishan	$599
265 km or 165 mi	Chengdu	$635
266 km or 165 mi	Leshan	$563
266 km or 166 mi	Guanghan	$571
268 km or 167 mi	Deyang	$563
272 km or 169 mi	Mianyang	$528
277 km or 172 mi	Bijie	$569
285 km or 177 mi	Shifang	$557
292 km or 181 mi	Emeishan	$552
294 km or 183 mi	Pengzhou	$588
298 km or 185 mi	Enshi	$558
298 km or 185 mi	Mianzhu	$544
298 km or 185 mi	Chongzhou	$596
300 km or 186 mi	Jiangyou	$536
309 km or 192 mi	Qionglai	$580
316 km or 196 mi	Wanyuan	$567
320 km or 199 mi	Dujiangyan	$583
327 km or 203 mi	Guangyuan	$587
331 km or 206 mi	Guiyang	$562
331 km or 206 mi	Tongren	$568
342 km or 212 mi	Ya'an	$571
342 km or 213 mi	Jishou	$537