Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 50.2% more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 13.1% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.8 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 36.1% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 29.9% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.6% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 31.4% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.1% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL200.58	$8.96 ₩11,943	-20.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.45	$7.46 ₩9,953	-14.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.60	$1.58 ₩2,110	+31.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.92	$0.79 ₩1,048	-11.7%
Average			-13.1%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.8 times more for groceries

	Chisinau	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.71	$3.10 ₩4,130	+335.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.39	$8.84 ₩11,786	+80.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.61	$7.79 ₩10,392	+64.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.81	$3.61 ₩4,808	+29.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.13	$4.74 ₩6,322	+101.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.83	$3.46 ₩4,619	+690.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.60	$1.57 ₩2,089	+79.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.79	$2.59 ₩3,458	+176.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL17.97	$2.83 ₩3,778	+181.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.58	$1.66 ₩2,209	+430.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.40	$1.16 ₩1,540	+369.6%
Average			+182.9%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.1% more for transportation

	Chisinau	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.06	$5.53 ₩7,377	-14.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL241.70	$46.28 ₩61,706	+242.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL528K	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.26	$8.51 ₩11,346	+72.4%
Average			+36.1%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.9% more for housing

	Chisinau	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.39	$20.82 ₩27,759	+96.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	$886.39 ₩1M	+30.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	$620.25 ₩827K	+42.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	$162.69 ₩217K	-12.5%
Average			+29.9%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Chisinau	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+344.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL104K	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+286.9%
Average			+314.5%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.12	$3.73 ₩4,976	+66.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.67	$4.10 ₩5,468	+89.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.18	$3.36 ₩4,479	-1.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL745.01	$58.22 ₩77,630	+39.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.43	$11.20 ₩14,929	+33.1%
Average			+46.6%

Chisinau vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.4% less for clothing

	Chisinau	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	$57.88 ₩77,178	-27.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL841.43	$32.77 ₩43,700	-30.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	$69.99 ₩93,325	-38.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	$82.45 ₩110K	-28.7%
Average			-31.4%

Chisinau 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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