Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 2.3 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 76.8% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.4 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 67.7% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 30.9 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 96.1% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 82.1% more in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.8% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$8.96 ₩11,955	+134.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$7.46 ₩9,962	-1.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$1.58 ₩2,112	+125.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.79 ₩1,049	+199.3%
Average			+76.8%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4 times more for groceries

	Colombo	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$3.10 ₩4,134	+463.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$8.84 ₩11,798	+28.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$7.79 ₩10,403	+29.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$3.61 ₩4,813	+120.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$4.74 ₩6,328	+114.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$3.46 ₩4,624	+13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$1.57 ₩2,091	+322.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$2.59 ₩3,462	+27.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$2.83 ₩3,782	+400.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$1.66 ₩2,211	+263.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$1.16 ₩1,542	+227.5%
Average			+141.2%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 67.7% more for transportation

	Colombo	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.53 ₩7,384	+7.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$46.28 ₩61,767	+543.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-20.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$8.51 ₩11,357	+158.3%
Average			+67.7%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Colombo	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$20.82 ₩27,787	+0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$886.39 ₩1M	+50.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$620.25 ₩828K	+129.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$162.69 ₩217K	+295.5%
Average			+101.7%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 30.9 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+5002.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+1769.5%
Average			+2988.4%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 96.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$3.73 ₩4,981	+69.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$4.10 ₩5,473	+63.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$3.36 ₩4,483	-67.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$58.22 ₩77,707	+316.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$11.20 ₩14,944	+147.0%
Average			+96.1%

Colombo vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 82.1% more for clothing

	Colombo	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$57.88 ₩77,255	+219.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$32.77 ₩43,743	+97.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$69.99 ₩93,417	-11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$82.45 ₩110K	+97.4%
Average			+82.1%

Colombo 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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