Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 16.7% cheaper than Barcelona.

Restaurants: pay 48.8% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 51.2% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 3.7% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 42.4% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 66.0% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.3% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 29.0% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.8% less for restaurants

	Barcelona	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$8.96 ₩11,955	-50.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$7.46 ₩9,962	-44.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.98 €2.65	$1.58 ₩2,112	-46.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 €1.70	$0.79 ₩1,049	-58.9%
Average			-48.8%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.2% more for groceries

	Barcelona	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 €1.78	$3.10 ₩4,134	+55.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.79 €7.83	$8.84 ₩11,798	+0.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 €4.29	$7.79 ₩10,403	+61.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93 €4.39	$3.61 ₩4,813	-26.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.13 €3.68	$4.74 ₩6,328	+14.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 €1.22	$3.46 ₩4,624	+152.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.57 ₩2,091	+71.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 €1.07	$2.59 ₩3,462	+116.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$2.83 ₩3,782	+133.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.85	$1.66 ₩2,211	+73.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$1.16 ₩1,542	+17.1%
Average			+51.2%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% less for transportation

	Barcelona	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.87 €6.12	$5.53 ₩7,384	-19.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.53 €22.72	$46.28 ₩61,767	+81.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-16.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.90 €13.26	$8.51 ₩11,357	-42.9%
Average			-3.7%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.4% less for housing

	Barcelona	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.30 €31.42	$20.82 ₩27,787	-41.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	$886.39 ₩1M	-47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	$620.25 ₩828K	-52.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.62 €123.38	$162.69 ₩217K	+17.4%
Average			-42.4%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 66.0% more for childcare

	Barcelona	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$951.83 €847.16	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+102.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+36.1%
Average			+66.0%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Barcelona	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$3.73 ₩4,981	-4.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 €2.88	$4.10 ₩5,473	+26.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.00 €6.23	$3.36 ₩4,483	-52.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.11 €47.27	$58.22 ₩77,707	+9.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$11.20 ₩14,944
Average			-1.3%

Barcelona vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.0% less for clothing

	Barcelona	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €77.74	$57.88 ₩77,255	-33.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.19 €34.88	$32.77 ₩43,743	-16.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.13 €93.57	$69.99 ₩93,417	-33.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.81 €106.64	$82.45 ₩110K	-31.2%
Average			-29.0%

Barcelona 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

Barcelona is about 6 times smaller than Seoul.

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