Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Australia Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 23.3% cheaper than Australia overall.

Restaurants: pay 52.4% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 35.2% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 26.2% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 46.1% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 32.8% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.2% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 7.8% less in South Korea

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, transportation, and clothing are lower in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Australia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Australia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 52.4% less for restaurants

	Australia	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.15 A$24.22	$6.72 ₩9,521	-60.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 A$13.61	$5.50 ₩7,786	-43.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.63 A$3.72	$1.47 ₩2,077	-44.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 A$3.03	$0.82 ₩1,168	-61.5%
Average			-52.4%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.2% more for groceries

	Australia	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.39 A$3.38	$2.87 ₩4,070	+20.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.21 A$5.95	$5.63 ₩7,968	+33.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.84 A$8.25	$7.67 ₩10,871	+31.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.36 A$6.17	$2.84 ₩4,017	-35.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 A$5.47	$3.34 ₩4,725	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.09	$3.24 ₩4,583	+118.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.27 A$1.79	$1.39 ₩1,966	+9.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 A$1.86	$2.80 ₩3,961	+112.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 A$2.72	$2.40 ₩3,405	+24.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 A$1.55	$1.78 ₩2,525	+62.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 A$1.38	$1.20 ₩1,706	+23.5%
Average			+35.2%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.2% less for transportation

	Australia	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 A$6.32	$4.40 ₩6,233	-1.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$86.18 A$121.73	$47.17 ₩66,820	-45.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,666.22 A$39,082.11	$26,440.41 ₩37M	-4.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.83 A$25.19	$8.33 ₩11,802	-53.3%
Average			-26.2%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.1% less for housing

	Australia	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.93 A$77.60	$21.68 ₩30,715	-60.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,188.50 A$1,678.91	$473.91 ₩671K	-60.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$962.42 A$1,359.54	$357.19 ₩506K	-62.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.71 A$188.89	$132.53 ₩188K	-0.9%
Average			-46.1%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 32.8% less for childcare

	Australia	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,475.00 A$2,083.62	$378.52 ₩536K	-74.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,848.50 A$19,562.79	$15,055.40 ₩21M	+8.7%
Average			-32.8%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Australia	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.47 A$9.14	$3.12 ₩4,417	-51.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 A$5.03	$3.57 ₩5,054	+0.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.78 A$40.65	$3.18 ₩4,510	-88.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.13 A$72.23	$49.86 ₩70,625	-2.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.10 A$18.51	$10.12 ₩14,332	-22.8%
Average			-33.2%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.8% less for clothing

	Australia	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.65 A$98.38	$66.46 ₩94,138	-4.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.53 A$68.56	$50.68 ₩71,791	+4.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.22 A$140.16	$72.74 ₩103K	-26.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.98 A$152.53	$103.23 ₩146K	-4.4%
Average			-7.8%

Australia vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: August 2026

Compare further: Australia vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

Be 28.1% less likely to be unemployed in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Australia is about 78 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Australia to South Korea · OECD 2023

1,861 people moved from Australia to South Korea.

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