Cost of living comparison

compared to

P'yongyang vs. Apia Cost of Living Summary

P'yongyang is 22.7% cheaper than Apia.

Restaurants
pay 58.6% less in P'yongyang
Groceries
pay 12.1% less in P'yongyang
Entertainment and Sports
pay 22.4% more in P'yongyang

Expenses including restaurants and groceries are lower in P'yongyang.

P'yongyang vs. Apia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in P'yongyang instead of Apia, you would:

pay 58.6% less for restaurants

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $47.26
WST130.00
$4.81
KPW4,327
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$14.54
WST40.00
$21.26
KPW19,136
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.82
WST5.00
$2.21
KPW1,985

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pay 12.1% less for groceries

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Bread
1 loaf
$0.82
WST2.25
$2.30
KPW2,071
Local cheese (8 oz) $0.45
WST1.25
??
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
WST18.93
$3.55
KPW3,195

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.13
WST11.36
??
Monthly public transit pass ?? ??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? ??

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pay (unknown) more for housing

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$36.35
WST100.00
??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area ?? $89.58
KPW80,621
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $89.58
KPW80,621

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? ??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? ??

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pay 22.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.45
WST9.50
$13.44
KPW12,093
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
WST8.00
$1.12
KPW1,008
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.18
WST17.00
??

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Apia
P'yongyang
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? ??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? ??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? ??

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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