Cape Town vs Recife - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cape Town	Recife
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1386	$802
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3160	$2043
🏠 One person rent	$775	$358
🏘️ Family rent	$1348	$616
🍽️ Food expenses	$359	$260
🚐 Transport expenses	$139	$88
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$405	$418
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	55	54
😀 Quality of life	58	66
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.49M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 73% more expensive than in Recife. Cities ranked 4336th and 6758th ($1386 vs $802) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 33rd 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 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs Recife ranked 12th in Brazil, while ranked 6134th and 5007th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$12.2	$5.07
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.7	$32.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.19	$8.35
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$1.56
☕ Cappuccino	$2.47	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.06
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$942	$439
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$591	$229
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$811
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1075	$412
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$72.4	$69.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$107
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.7	$17.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	11.78%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$1912
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1508	$1040
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.33	$0.82
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.4	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$7.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.2	$1.52
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.43
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.97	$2.07
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.53	$7.12
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.77	$4.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.45	$7.16
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.57
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.35
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$0.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$1.23
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.08
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.77	$2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.22	$7.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.12
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.38	$1.78
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.05	$3.77
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$3.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.41	$1.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$20.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.14	$7.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.2	$60.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$10.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.7	$44.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$124	$74.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$272	$276
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6197	$11966

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	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893

Cities near Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$615
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$605
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$460
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$751
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$680
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$636
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$623
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$820
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$598
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$597
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$696
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$705
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$752
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$641
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$671
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$621
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$673
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$640
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$697
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$649
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$472
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$599
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$610
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$661
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$617
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$650
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$707
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$615
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$718
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$614
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$648
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$709
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$678
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$654
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$824
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$617
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$491
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$768
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$693
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$592