Cost of living comparison

Greece

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Athens Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 9.7% more expensive than Athens.

Restaurants: pay 36.2% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 89.3% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 7.4% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 3.2% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.8% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 30.6% less in Seoul

The cost of childcare, groceries, and housing in Seoul are more expensive than in Athens. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Seoul. Notably, childcare and groceries are significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. Athens Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of Athens, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.2% less for restaurants

	Athens	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$8.96 ₩11,955	-46.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$7.46 ₩9,962	-33.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.82 €2.51	$1.58 ₩2,112	-43.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 €0.50	$0.79 ₩1,049	+40.4%
Average			-36.2%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 89.3% more for groceries

	Athens	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$3.10 ₩4,134	+117.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.56 €6.73	$8.84 ₩11,798	+17.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.14 €6.35	$7.79 ₩10,403	+9.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.99 €4.44	$3.61 ₩4,813	-27.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.76 €4.24	$4.74 ₩6,328	-0.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$3.46 ₩4,624	+249.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.79	$1.57 ₩2,091	+76.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$2.59 ₩3,462	+305.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 €0.87	$2.83 ₩3,782	+191.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 €0.43	$1.66 ₩2,211	+243.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 €0.46	$1.16 ₩1,542	+123.5%
Average			+89.3%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.4% less for transportation

	Athens	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.72 €7.76	$5.53 ₩7,384	-36.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.23 €26.91	$46.28 ₩61,767	+53.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,970.99 €24,895.19	$29,385.60 ₩39M	+5.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.54 €11.16	$8.51 ₩11,357	-32.2%
Average			-7.4%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.2% more for housing

	Athens	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.36 €27.02	$20.82 ₩27,787	-31.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.36 €660.73	$886.39 ₩1M	+19.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$655.59 €583.50	$620.25 ₩828K	-5.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$160.58 €142.92	$162.69 ₩217K	+1.3%
Average			+3.2%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Athens	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$573.57 €510.50	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+236.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,885.92 €11,468.93	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+75.4%
Average			+142.8%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Athens	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.73 ₩4,981	-33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.11 €3.66	$4.10 ₩5,473	-0.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.60 €4.98	$3.36 ₩4,483	-40.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.57 €48.57	$58.22 ₩77,707	+6.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.64 €9.47	$11.20 ₩14,944	+5.2%
Average			-9.8%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.6% less for clothing

	Athens	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$91.55 €81.48	$57.88 ₩77,255	-36.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.01 €35.61	$32.77 ₩43,743	-18.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.08 €92.64	$69.99 ₩93,417	-32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.50 €109.92	$82.45 ₩110K	-33.2%
Average			-30.6%

Athens vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

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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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Athens is about 1.5 times smaller than Seoul.

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