Cost of living comparison

compared to

P'yongyang vs. Damascus Cost of Living Summary

P'yongyang is 29.6% cheaper than Damascus.

Restaurants
pay 10.4% more in P'yongyang
Groceries
pay 85.4% more in P'yongyang
Housing
pay 71.3% less in P'yongyang
Entertainment and Sports
pay 81.5% more in P'yongyang

The cost of groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in P'yongyang are more expensive than in Damascus. Notably, groceries and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in P'yongyang.

P'yongyang vs. Damascus Cost Breakdown

If you lived in P'yongyang instead of Damascus, you would:

pay 10.4% more for restaurants

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $10.00
SYP130K
$4.81
KPW4,327
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$7.00
SYP91,014
$21.26
KPW19,136
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.25
SYP29,254
$2.21
KPW1,985

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pay 85.4% more for groceries

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Bread
1 loaf
$0.40
SYP5,199
$2.30
KPW2,071
Local cheese (8 oz) $1.96
SYP25,477
??
Milk (1 gallon) $4.03
SYP52,433
$3.55
KPW3,195

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Gasoline (1 gallon) $13.98
SYP182K
??
Monthly public transit pass $10.00
SYP130K
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $15,000.00
SYP195M
??

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pay 71.3% less for housing

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$46.25
SYP601K
??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $523.33
SYP7M
$89.58
KPW80,621
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $186.00
SYP2M
$89.58
KPW80,621

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $66.67
SYP867K
??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $1,780.73
SYP23M
??

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pay 81.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.00
SYP26,004
$13.44
KPW12,093
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.71
SYP48,293
$1.12
KPW1,008
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.77
SYP36,000
??

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Damascus
P'yongyang
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$28.60
SYP372K
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$40.00
SYP520K
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$60.00
SYP780K
??

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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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