Cape Town vs Recife - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Recife
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$805
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$2037
🏠 One person rent	$773	$375
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$630
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$249
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$89.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$411
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	55	54
😀 Quality of life	55	65
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.49M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 70% more expensive than in Recife. Cities ranked 4432nd and 6735th ($1366 vs $805) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 27th 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 0.5 months in Recife. Cape Town ranked 4th best city to live in South Africa vs Recife ranked 11th in Brazil, while ranked 6382nd and 5331st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$12.5	$4.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$27.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$7.34
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$1.75
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$2.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$442
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$259
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$701
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$472
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$62.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$95
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$17
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	11.7%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$1647
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$944
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$0.81
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$39
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$7.31
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.21
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$1.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.23
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$2.22
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$7.88
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$4.61
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$6.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.85
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.23
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$0.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.05
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.57
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$7.76
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$1.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$1.86
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$4.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$3.14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.05
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$19.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$6.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$56.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$40.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$72.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$271
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$13958

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	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

Cities near Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$595
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$589
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$452
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$743
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$669
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$622
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$601
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$787
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$579
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$578
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$677
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$687
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$726
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$628
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$647
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$600
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$648
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$608
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$676
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$628
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$466
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$589
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$577
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$651
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$609
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$640
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$674
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$609
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$684
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$611
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$635
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$687
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$666
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$645
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$812
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$608
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$488
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$760
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$677
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$583