Numbeo (which is one of the largest databases where users all over the world contribute information about cities and countries) recently published its mid-year Cost of Living Index: Africa for 2018 and the results are a bit surprising.
The database provides information on "world living conditions including the cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution" indices.
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How do the Cost of Living indices work? The website says the indices are compared against New York City in the U.S, one of the world's most expensive cities. This "means that for each New York City index the result should be 100%. If another city has, for example, rent index of 120, it means that on an average in that city rents are 20% more expensive than in New York City."
Pretoria ranks fourth on this list of most expensive African cities to live in. The top three positions belong to Accra in Ghana, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Harare in Zimbabwe.
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Of the 19 cities in Africa featured on the index, five South African cities made the top 11. They are in ranking order:
- Pretoria
- Johannesburg (number six)
- Cape Town (number nine)
- Durban (number 10)
- Port Elizabeth (number 11)
Below are graphs with details on the cost of living, rent, cost of living plus, groceries and restaurants indices.
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