Cape Town vs Recife - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cape Town	Recife
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1231	$746
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2814	$1937
🏠 One person rent	$681	$330
🏘️ Family rent	$1180	$550
🍽️ Food expenses	$322	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$85
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$352	$427
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	56	54
😀 Quality of life	55	60
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.49M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 65% more expensive than in Recife. Cities ranked 4637th and 6884th ($1231 vs $746) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 29th in South Africa and Brazil, respectively. Check South Africa vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.6 months in Recife. Cape Town ranked 5th best city to live in South Africa vs Recife ranked 20th in Brazil, while ranked 6312th and 5911th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs Recife infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Recife

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

	Cape Town	Recife
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.5	$4.91
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$46.4	$24.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$6.45
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$1.63
☕ Cappuccino	$2.15	$2.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.24	$0.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$761	$384
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$227
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1355	$606
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$411
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$75	$53.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$82.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.4	$17.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1957	$1420
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1290	$822
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$0.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$28.5	$37.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.7	$7.07
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.09
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$1.19
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$1.21
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.62	$7.42
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.36	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.75	$7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.18
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.44
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.25
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.29
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.67	$1.87
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.78	$7.08
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$1.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.15	$4.03
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.66	$2.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.2	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.56	$1
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$18.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.86	$6.88
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.1	$54.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$56	$41.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$259
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4978	$16281

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 Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$561
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$559
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$416
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$699
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$618
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$579
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$575
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$726
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$545
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$566
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$634
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$631
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$691
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$580
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$604
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$583
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$615
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$563
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$623
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$588
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$434
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$555
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$538
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$611
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$562
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$590
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$630
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$576
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$639
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$571
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$591
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$644
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$621
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$600
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$758
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$569
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$456
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$713
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$637
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$544