Cost of living comparison

Kyrgyzstan

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Bishkek Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 94.9% more expensive than Bishkek.

Restaurants: pay 42.3% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 3.4 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 71.4% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 74.5% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 5.0 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.1% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 13.4% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Bishkek Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.3% more for restaurants

	Bishkek	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.86 KGS600.01	$8.96 ₩12,215	+30.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.83 KGS510.00	$7.46 ₩10,179	+28.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 KGS65.00	$1.58 ₩2,158	+112.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 KGS33.88	$0.79 ₩1,072	+102.9%
Average			+42.3%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.4 times more for groceries

	Bishkek	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.40 KGS34.67	$3.10 ₩4,224	+681.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.82 KGS334.23	$8.84 ₩12,055	+131.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.81 KGS333.12	$7.79 ₩10,629	+104.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.73 KGS151.13	$3.61 ₩4,917	+108.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 KGS181.82	$4.74 ₩6,466	+128.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.63 KGS54.76	$3.46 ₩4,724	+453.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.84 KGS73.57	$1.57 ₩2,136	+86.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 KGS81.76	$2.59 ₩3,537	+177.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 KGS62.84	$2.83 ₩3,864	+294.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.27 KGS23.90	$1.66 ₩2,259	+506.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 KGS19.28	$1.16 ₩1,575	+424.0%
Average			+236.7%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.4% more for transportation

	Bishkek	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.74 KGS326.93	$5.53 ₩7,545	+48.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.66 KGS1,020.01	$46.28 ₩63,112	+296.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,991.94 KGS3M	$29,385.60 ₩40M	-2.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.52 KGS395.00	$8.51 ₩11,604	+88.4%
Average			+71.4%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.5% more for housing

	Bishkek	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.00 KGS1,049.18	$20.82 ₩28,392	+73.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$603.19 KGS52,748.50	$886.39 ₩1M	+47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$416.93 KGS36,460.29	$620.25 ₩846K	+48.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.42 KGS3,359.96	$162.69 ₩222K	+323.4%
Average			+74.5%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 5.0 times more for childcare

	Bishkek	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.56 KGS19,200.18	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+777.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,837.88 KGS685K	$22,602.27 ₩31M	+188.4%
Average			+403.2%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Bishkek	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.37 KGS120.00	$3.73 ₩5,090	+172.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 KGS212.35	$4.10 ₩5,593	+68.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.06 KGS180.00	$3.36 ₩4,581	+63.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.84 KGS4,795.50	$58.22 ₩79,399	+6.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.72 KGS500.00	$11.20 ₩15,269	+95.8%
Average			+71.1%

Bishkek vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.4% less for clothing

	Bishkek	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.40 KGS4,844.49	$57.88 ₩78,937	+4.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.07 KGS3,766.70	$32.77 ₩44,695	-23.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.57 KGS7,920.07	$69.99 ₩95,451	-22.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.22 KGS7,890.07	$82.45 ₩112K	-8.6%
Average			-13.4%

Bishkek 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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