Cost of living comparison

compared to

Seoul vs. Bamako Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 2.1 times more expensive than Bamako.

Restaurants
pay 6.2% more in Seoul
Groceries
pay 50.1% more in Seoul
Transportation
pay 31.7% more in Seoul
Housing
pay 4.3 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports
pay 41.0% more in Seoul

The cost of housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants in Seoul are more expensive than in Bamako. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Seoul.

Seoul vs. Bamako Cost Breakdown

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

pay 6.2% more for restaurants

 
Bamako
Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $8.50
F CFA4,963
$8.96
₩11,955
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.18
F CFA4,777
$7.46
₩9,962
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.93
F CFA540
$1.58
₩2,112

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pay 50.1% more for groceries

 
Bamako
Seoul
Bread
1 loaf
$3.84
F CFA2,240
$3.10
₩4,134
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.91
F CFA5,201
$8.84
₩11,798
Milk (1 gallon) $7.22
F CFA4,214
$7.79
₩10,403

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pay 31.7% more for transportation

 
Bamako
Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.20
F CFA2,452
$5.53
₩7,384
Monthly public transit pass ?? $46.28
₩61,767
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $29,385.60
₩39M

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pay 4.3 times more for housing

 
Bamako
Seoul
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$65.00
F CFA37,949
$20.82
₩27,787
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $175.00
F CFA102K
$886.39
₩1M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $80.00
F CFA46,706
$620.25
₩828K

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Bamako
Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $1,927.59
₩3M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $22,602.27
₩30M

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pay 41.0% more for entertainment and sports

 
Bamako
Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.39
F CFA1,393
$3.73
₩4,981
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.67
F CFA974
$4.10
₩5,473
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $3.36
₩4,483

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Bamako
Seoul
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $57.88
₩77,255
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $32.77
₩43,743
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $69.99
₩93,417

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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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