Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 71.4% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 57.3% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 90.8% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 36.7% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 4.5% less in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 57.3% more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.26 ETB655.54	$6.72 ₩9,865	+57.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	$5.50 ₩8,068	-15.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB93.51	$1.47 ₩2,152	+141.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 ETB87.20	$0.82 ₩1,211	+45.6%
Average			+57.3%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 ETB193.73	$2.87 ₩4,217	+128.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 ETB667.36	$5.63 ₩8,255	+29.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.42 ETB834.53	$7.67 ₩11,264	+41.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 ETB351.02	$2.84 ₩4,162	+24.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.76 ETB886.79	$3.34 ₩4,896	-42.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.08 ETB473.48	$3.24 ₩4,748	+5.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.43 ETB66.40	$1.39 ₩2,037	+221.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 ETB162.78	$2.80 ₩4,104	+164.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 ETB62.30	$2.40 ₩3,528	+493.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 ETB42.45	$1.78 ₩2,616	+546.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 ETB139.43	$1.20 ₩1,767	+32.9%
Average			+149.6%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 90.8% more for transportation

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.81 ETB740.52	$4.40 ₩6,458	-8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	$47.17 ₩69,233	+293.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	$26,440.41 ₩38,804,738	-51.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.62 ETB556.29	$8.33 ₩12,228	+130.5%
Average			+90.8%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.7% less for housing

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	$21.68 ₩31,824	-83.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	$473.91 ₩695,518	-41.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	$357.19 ₩524,216	-30.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	$132.53 ₩194,509	+8.7%
Average			-36.7%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	$378.52 ₩555,533	+302.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	$15,055.40 ₩22,095,763	-50.1%
Average			+126.2%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.90 ETB138.50	$3.12 ₩4,576	+246.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.09 ETB167.35	$3.57 ₩5,236	+228.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.10 ETB784.81	$3.18 ₩4,673	-37.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	$49.86 ₩73,176	-19.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB577.06	$10.12 ₩14,850	+169.8%
Average			+117.4%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.5% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	$66.46 ₩97,538	+47.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	$50.68 ₩74,384	-32.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	$72.74 ₩106,755	-22.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	$103.23 ₩151,509	-10.3%
Average			-4.5%

Ethiopia vs. South Korea - 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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