Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 34.4% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 30.4% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.4 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 15.5% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 33.6% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.3% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 18.1% less in Seoul

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

Planning a move to South Korea? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Seoul vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$8.96 ₩11,955	-38.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$7.46 ₩9,962	+2.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$1.58 ₩2,112	-34.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.79 ₩1,049	-65.1%
Average			-30.4%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	Bucharest	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$3.10 ₩4,134	+134.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$8.84 ₩11,798	+102.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$7.79 ₩10,403	+25.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$3.61 ₩4,813	-1.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$4.74 ₩6,328	+55.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$3.46 ₩4,624	+506.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$1.57 ₩2,091	+116.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$2.59 ₩3,462	+277.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$2.83 ₩3,782	+147.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$1.66 ₩2,211	+354.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$1.16 ₩1,542	+237.4%
Average			+142.5%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.5% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$5.53 ₩7,384	-25.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$46.28 ₩61,767	+121.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$29,385.60 ₩39M	+3.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$8.51 ₩11,357	+50.7%
Average			+15.5%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.6% more for housing

	Bucharest	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$20.82 ₩27,787	+124.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$886.39 ₩1M	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$620.25 ₩828K	+37.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$162.69 ₩217K	+10.1%
Average			+33.6%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Bucharest	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+207.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+57.3%
Average			+119.9%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$3.73 ₩4,981	-0.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$4.10 ₩5,473	+16.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$3.36 ₩4,483	-47.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$58.22 ₩77,707	+18.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$11.20 ₩14,944	+33.8%
Average			+8.3%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.1% less for clothing

	Bucharest	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$57.88 ₩77,255	-34.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$32.77 ₩43,743	-14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$69.99 ₩93,417	-10.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$82.45 ₩110K	-10.1%
Average			-18.1%

Bucharest vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Bucharest vs. Seoul

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Seoul?

Size Comparison · See true size

Bucharest is about 2.7 times smaller than Seoul.

More cost comparisons

Bucharest vs.

Sofia

Bucharest vs.

Cairo

Bucharest vs.

Madrid

Bucharest vs.

Lima

Bucharest vs.

Ho Chi Minh City

Bucharest vs.

Vienna

Bucharest vs.

Berlin

Bucharest vs.

Quito

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Romania vs. South Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Romania and South Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Bucharest

Add prices for Seoul

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Seoul or Bucharest. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.