Cost of living comparison

Germany

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Berlin Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 21.5% cheaper than Berlin.

Restaurants: pay 50.5% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 37.8% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 34.5% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 43.5% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 4.4 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.4% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 36.3% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Berlin Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.5% less for restaurants

	Berlin	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	$13.44 €11.96	$7.46 ₩9,962	-44.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.44 €3.06	$1.58 ₩2,112	-54.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.10 €2.76	$0.79 ₩1,049	-74.7%
Average			-50.5%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.8% more for groceries

	Berlin	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.40 €2.14	$3.10 ₩4,134	+29.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.59 €7.65	$8.84 ₩11,798	+2.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.72 €4.20	$7.79 ₩10,403	+65.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.47 €3.98	$3.61 ₩4,813	-19.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.44 €4.84	$4.74 ₩6,328	-12.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.61 €1.43	$3.46 ₩4,624	+115.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.81	$1.57 ₩2,091	+73.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.52 €1.35	$2.59 ₩3,462	+70.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 €1.51	$2.83 ₩3,782	+67.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.84	$1.66 ₩2,211	+75.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 €0.87	$1.16 ₩1,542	+18.1%
Average			+37.8%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.5% less for transportation

	Berlin	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.66 €7.71	$5.53 ₩7,384	-36.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.54 €62.79	$46.28 ₩61,767	-34.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,914.63 €29,295.20	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-10.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.29 €26.96	$8.51 ₩11,357	-71.9%
Average			-34.5%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.5% less for housing

	Berlin	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.20 €42.90	$20.82 ₩27,787	-56.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,478.95 €1,316.32	$886.39 ₩1M	-40.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,114.14 €991.62	$620.25 ₩828K	-44.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$295.08 €262.63	$162.69 ₩217K	-44.9%
Average			-43.5%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4 times more for childcare

	Berlin	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$144.45 €128.56	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+1234.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,853.22 €14,109.93	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+42.6%
Average			+336.2%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Berlin	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.43 €4.83	$3.73 ₩4,981	-31.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.34 €3.86	$4.10 ₩5,473	-5.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.53 €9.37	$3.36 ₩4,483	-68.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.06 €35.65	$58.22 ₩77,707	+45.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.68 €13.95	$11.20 ₩14,944	-28.6%
Average			-17.4%

Berlin vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.3% less for clothing

	Berlin	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.44 €84.95	$57.88 ₩77,255	-39.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.03 €41.86	$32.77 ₩43,743	-30.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.60 €93.09	$69.99 ₩93,417	-33.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$141.17 €125.65	$82.45 ₩110K	-41.6%
Average			-36.3%

Berlin 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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Berlin is about 1.5 times bigger than Seoul.

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