Cost of living comparison

compared to

Seoul vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 10.1% more expensive than Budapest.

Restaurants: pay 27.9% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 94.5% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 1.1% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 2.7% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 24.4% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 21.8% less in Seoul

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

Seoul vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.9% less for restaurants

	Budapest	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.93 HUF3,911.67	$8.49 ₩12,514	-28.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.94 HUF2,933.75	$6.30 ₩9,281	-29.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 HUF601.31	$1.64 ₩2,415	-10.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.36 HUF444.58	$0.78 ₩1,151	-42.4%
Average			-27.9%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 94.5% more for groceries

	Budapest	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.83 HUF599.20	$3.24 ₩4,772	+77.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.49 HUF1,800.31	$6.79 ₩10,011	+23.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 HUF1,552.72	$7.85 ₩11,566	+65.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.28 HUF1,075.31	$2.93 ₩4,321	-10.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 HUF1,001.73	$4.67 ₩6,880	+52.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.95 HUF310.34	$3.45 ₩5,078	+264.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 HUF307.69	$1.52 ₩2,246	+62.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.01 HUF331.16	$2.35 ₩3,466	+132.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 HUF552.33	$2.77 ₩4,086	+64.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 HUF183.53	$1.62 ₩2,386	+189.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 HUF196.68	$1.30 ₩1,912	+116.3%
Average			+94.5%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% more for transportation

	Budapest	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.01 HUF2,299.15	$4.43 ₩6,530	-36.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.83 HUF8,801.26	$45.99 ₩67,782	+71.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,801.65 HUF8,791,477.02	$25,072.36 ₩36,951,647	-6.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.77 HUF4,517.98	$10.50 ₩15,475	-23.8%
Average			+1.1%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7% more for housing

	Budapest	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.10 HUF7,247.79	$20.56 ₩30,296	-7.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$762.27 HUF250,039.88	$925.55 ₩1,364,083	+21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$595.85 HUF195,451.32	$559.33 ₩824,340	-6.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.90 HUF38,017.15	$118.88 ₩175,208	+2.6%
Average			+2.7%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 24.4% more for childcare

	Budapest	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.58 HUF152,392.12	$360.15 ₩530,786	-22.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,648.55 HUF4,148,977.03	$21,667.04 ₩31,932,878	+71.3%
Average			+24.4%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Budapest	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 HUF977.92	$3.54 ₩5,214	+18.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.96 HUF970.05	$3.70 ₩5,450	+25.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.16 HUF2,347.00	$3.18 ₩4,693	-55.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.02 HUF21,656.31	$56.34 ₩83,028	-14.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.24 HUF3,031.54	$10.61 ₩15,642	+14.8%
Average			-2.3%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.8% less for clothing

	Budapest	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.35 HUF31,276.79	$49.77 ₩73,344	-47.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.51 HUF13,614.80	$39.49 ₩58,201	-4.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.47 HUF32,955.57	$74.94 ₩110,450	-25.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.87 HUF35,710.84	$99.06 ₩145,992	-9.0%
Average			-21.8%

Budapest vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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