Cape Town is one of the cheapest cities in the world for beer and cigarettes, according to Deutsche Bank’s Mapping the World’s Prices report for 2026, cited by BusinessTech. A basket of five 500 ml beers and two packs of cigarettes costs about R230 there.
The report’s Oasis Index, which measures the cost of cigarettes and alcohol, found that Australia and New Zealand are the most expensive countries in which to buy these products because of high taxes. It ranked Cape Town 62nd out of 69 cities, among the cheapest in the world, and Johannesburg 58th out of 69, slightly pricier but still among the cheapest.
The latest consumer price index from Statistics South Africa, which runs to August, puts beer inflation across South Africa at about 4.4% a year. The three big cities have moved differently:
| City | Past 12 months | July to August 2026 | Since late 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town | 4.4% | up 1.2% | up nearly 12% |
| Johannesburg | 4.4% | down 0.2% | up 7.4% |
| Durban | 2.5% | down 0.2% | up 7.3% |
Cape Town has seen the biggest increase, with beer prices up nearly 12% since late 2024, an index level of 111.9. Johannesburg is tracking the national average, and Durban has had the smallest rises of the three.
The Deutsche Bank report found significant price changes over the past decade, with globalisation failing to bring prices into line across cities. It attributes that to taxes, regulations, currency fluctuations and inflation. Researchers Adrian Cox and Jim Reid of the Deutsche Bank Research Institute said Cape Town would also be the best city in which to buy a holiday home when scenery, climate and cost are weighed together, because it is 15 times cheaper per square metre than Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, the report found that Tokyo has become more affordable than other developed cities and that Tel Aviv has become one of the most expensive, driven by a strong shekel and thriving technology and defence sectors. It said Zurich and Geneva offer the best balance between income and expenses, that Munich and Frankfurt are becoming more liveable, and that the United States appears to be at the peak of its price cycle.
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