Cost of living comparison

Brunei

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Brunei Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 30.7% more expensive than Brunei overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.9% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 51.3% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 3.5 times more in South Korea
Housing: pay 13.0% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.0% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 19.4% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Brunei Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Brunei, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.9% more for restaurants

	Brunei	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.86 BND7.51	$7.06 ₩9,422	+20.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.92 BND8.86	$6.17 ₩8,230	-10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 BND1.18	$1.53 ₩2,039	+65.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 BND0.66	$0.88 ₩1,181	+71.6%
Average			+15.9%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.3% more for groceries

	Brunei	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.10 BND2.68	$3.04 ₩4,055	+45.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.08 BND9.06	$6.12 ₩8,174	-13.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.05 BND9.03	$8.23 ₩10,982	+16.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.35 BND3.01	$2.94 ₩3,923	+25.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.23 BND4.13	$4.11 ₩5,484	+27.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 BND2.29	$4.00 ₩5,342	+124.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 BND1.27	$1.55 ₩2,069	+56.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 BND2.28	$3.00 ₩4,000	+68.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 BND1.48	$2.63 ₩3,513	+128.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 BND0.99	$2.03 ₩2,715	+163.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 BND1.42	$1.26 ₩1,685	+14.0%
Average			+51.3%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5 times more for transportation

	Brunei	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.47 BND1.89	$5.01 ₩6,685	+240.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$0.78 BND1.00	$46.10 ₩61,538	+5802.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,115.17 BND47,549.96	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-23.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.47 BND39.04	$8.59 ₩11,470	-71.8%
Average			+246.0%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.0% less for housing

	Brunei	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.11 BND83.42	$24.34 ₩32,490	-62.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$731.42 BND937.05	$561.73 ₩750K	-23.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$627.34 BND803.71	$387.83 ₩518K	-38.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.39 BND49.18	$153.72 ₩205K	+300.5%
Average			-13.0%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Brunei	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.82 BND277.78	$545.93 ₩729K	+151.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,524.22 BND12,201.92	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+112.2%
Average			+131.2%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Brunei	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 BND2.50	$3.30 ₩4,403	+68.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.22 BND5.40	$3.66 ₩4,888	-13.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.72 BND15.01	$3.35 ₩4,467	-71.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.62 BND91.75	$57.32 ₩76,507	-20.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 BND7.01	$11.28 ₩15,062	+106.3%
Average			+8.0%

Brunei vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% less for clothing

	Brunei	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.18 BND97.60	$67.53 ₩90,139	-11.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$97.53 BND124.95	$53.43 ₩71,316	-45.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.15 BND164.18	$78.10 ₩104K	-39.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.27 BND92.59	$102.84 ₩137K	+42.3%
Average			-19.4%

Brunei vs. South Korea - 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

Compare further: Brunei vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Be 49.2% less likely to be unemployed in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Brunei is about 17 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Brunei to South Korea · OECD 2023

120 people moved from Brunei to South Korea.

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