Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 51.9% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 92.4% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.4 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 34.7% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 28.9% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 65.7% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.5% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 23.0% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 92.4% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.85	$8.96 ₩11,960	+100.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.83	$7.46 ₩9,967	+43.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 CN¥3.48	$1.58 ₩2,113	+203.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.27 CN¥1.82	$0.79 ₩1,050	+188.6%
Average			+92.4%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	Beijing	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.73 CN¥11.53	$3.10 ₩4,136	+79.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.22 CN¥48.14	$8.84 ₩11,803	+22.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.41 CN¥42.75	$7.79 ₩10,407	+21.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.02 CN¥13.49	$3.61 ₩4,815	+78.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.47 CN¥9.78	$4.74 ₩6,331	+223.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 CN¥6.23	$3.46 ₩4,626	+271.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 CN¥5.26	$1.57 ₩2,092	+98.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 CN¥6.19	$2.59 ₩3,463	+179.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 CN¥4.74	$2.83 ₩3,784	+298.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 CN¥2.14	$1.66 ₩2,212	+415.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.65	$1.16 ₩1,542	+191.0%
Average			+144.9%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.7% more for transportation

	Beijing	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.10	$5.53 ₩7,388	+11.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.30 CN¥228.87	$46.28 ₩61,794	+34.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$29,385.60 ₩39M	+51.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.68 CN¥31.25	$8.51 ₩11,362	+81.7%
Average			+34.7%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.9% more for housing

	Beijing	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.27 CN¥95.20	$20.82 ₩27,799	+45.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$936.67 CN¥6,249.18	$886.39 ₩1M	-5.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$530.98 CN¥3,542.53	$620.25 ₩828K	+16.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.49 CN¥296.80	$162.69 ₩217K	+265.7%
Average			+28.9%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 65.7% more for childcare

	Beijing	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$653.29 CN¥4,358.53	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+195.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,281.96 CN¥162K	$22,602.27 ₩30M	-6.9%
Average			+65.7%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$3.73 ₩4,983	+212.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 CN¥24.02	$4.10 ₩5,476	+13.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.33 CN¥28.86	$3.36 ₩4,485	-22.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.45 CN¥276.53	$58.22 ₩77,741	+40.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.46 CN¥49.75	$11.20 ₩14,950	+50.1%
Average			+51.5%

Beijing vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.0% less for clothing

	Beijing	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.55 CN¥470.68	$57.88 ₩77,288	-18.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.41 CN¥269.59	$32.77 ₩43,762	-18.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.99 CN¥580.34	$69.99 ₩93,458	-19.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.40 CN¥836.62	$82.45 ₩110K	-34.3%
Average			-23.0%

Beijing 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Beijing is about 27 times bigger than Seoul.

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