Photo: Der Berzerker from Washington, DC, USA · CC BY SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
South Africa
English, South African Sign Language, Xhosa, Tsonga, Sesotho, Zulu, Venda, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Southern Ndebele · ZAR · South African Standard Time
How it scores for living there
- 42%Cost of livingRated 4 of 5 for living there, good
- 45%Income taxRated 1 of 5 for living there, bad
- AppliesCapital gainsRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 21MbpsInternetRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 0.79Doctors /1,000Rated 1 of 5 for living there, bad
- 28PM2.5 ug/m3Rated 1 of 5 for living there, bad
- 43.7Homicide /100kRated 1 of 5 for living there, bad
- 66.3Life expectancyRated 1 of 5 for living there, bad
- 78%People onlineRated 3 of 5 for living there, workable
- 41Corruption indexRated 2 of 5 for living there, poor
- 12of 12Mild monthsRated 5 of 5 for living there, ideal
Facts, not judgements
- UTC+2Time zone
- ZARCurrency
- English+11Language
- C, M, NPower plug
- 14.8mVisitors in 2019
Colour says whether a figure is good for someone moving in, not whether it is high: cheap is green and expensive is red. Every coloured box carries the reason for its colour, the bar under it repeats the score as a width, and boxes with no data are not drawn.
Nomads in South Africa
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Who can help you in South Africa
Vetted partners for the move: immigration and tax lawyers, relocation services, banking and eSIM, guides and local experts. One Gold partner and up to three standard listings per country.
Climate and cost by city
Average monthly temperature and rainfall from Open-Meteo ERA5 (2019-2023 mean, CC BY 4.0). Sea surface temperature from Open-Meteo Marine. Price level from the World Bank ICP survey, same-year pairing, omitted where the survey does not cover the country.
Cost of living and lifestyle
Day to day, South Africa costs about 42% of the US level, on a World Bank income of $16k per person (PPP, 2025).
That percentage is measured against your country, not against ours. It follows the country picker in the header, or your account if you are signed in. With neither, it falls back to the United States, which is the 100 of the World Bank index, and the sentence says so.
World Bank ICP price level (US=100) and GNI per capita PPP, CC BY 4.0. It is a national average: a capital runs above it and a small town below it.
Getting to South Africa
Its main airport has non-stop service to 19 airports in the OpenFlights route database.
| From | Routing | Flight time | Cheapest fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | Non-stop | 9h 30m | €850 |
| Amsterdam | Non-stop | 11h 15m | €841 |
| London | Non-stop | 11h 30m | €541 |
| Paris | Non-stop | 11h 45m | €1175 |
| London | Non-stop | 11h 50m | €807 |
| Frankfurt | Non-stop | 11h 55m | €634 |
| Newark | Non-stop | 14h 25m | €1384 |
Airports and non-stop routes from OpenFlights (Open Database License). Fares and flight times are cached one-way economy prices from Travelpayouts, the cheapest seen recently rather than a live quote or an average. They move; treat them as an order of magnitude.
What to see in South Africa
Ordered by how many people looked each place up over the last twelve months, so the list is measured interest and not our taste.
UNESCOWorld Heritage Site
Vredefort crater
22,861 readers a month look it up
mountain
Table Mountain
12,284 readers a month look it up
national park of South Africa
Kruger National Park
10,800 readers a month look it up
UNESCOWorld Heritage Site
Robben Island
9,340 readers a month look it up
river
Orange River
5,032 readers a month look it up
river
Limpopo River
4,525 readers a month look it up
mountain range
Witwatersrand
4,012 readers a month look it up
waterfall
Tugela Falls
3,701 readers a month look it up
Photo credits
- Vredefort crater: Tadpolefarm, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Table Mountain: Matthiasmullie, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Kruger National Park: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Robben Island: South African Tourism from South Africa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Orange River: Martin Cígler, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Limpopo River: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Cen, PUBLIC DOMAIN, via Wikimedia Commons
- Witwatersrand: Chris Eason from London, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Tugela Falls: PhilippN, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The practical basics
- Local time…South African Standard Time, Africa/Johannesburg
- CurrencyZARISO 4217
- LanguagesEnglish, South African Sign Language, Xhosa, Tsonga, Sesotho, Zulu, Venda, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Southern Ndebele
- PlugsC, M, N230/400 V 50 Hz
- Safe tap water68%of people on a safely managed supply, World Bank 2024
- UK travel adviceNo blanket warningFCDO, reviewed 2026-07-08
- Population64.7mWorld Bank
Currency codes ISO 4217; plugs and voltage from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); time zone and flag from the countries-states-cities database (ODbL 1.0); travel advice from the UK FCDO (Open Government Licence v3).
How many people visit
South Africa logged 3.9 million international arrivals in 2020, the last year the World Bank series covers. That is a pandemic year and it is not what a normal year looks like: in 2019 the same series counted 14.8 million.
World Bank indicator ST.INT.ARVL, international tourism arrivals, CC BY 4.0. Arrivals count trips, not people: the same visitor twice in a year counts twice.
Tax in South Africa, in one line
Personal income tax runs up to 45 per cent. Capital gains: 18% effective (40% inclusion rate x 45% max marginal).
Tax figures are compiled by us and are being re-verified against primary sources. General information, not tax advice.
Data: World Bank, Open-Meteo, M-Lab, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under open licences. General information, not tax or legal advice.