Cost of living comparison

Finland

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Finland Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 15.0% cheaper than Finland overall.

Restaurants: pay 52.7% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 67.7% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 34.8% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 26.2% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 55.3% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.9% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 14.0% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Finland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.7% less for restaurants

	Finland	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.96 €14.20	$7.06 ₩9,422	-55.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.89 €10.58	$6.17 ₩8,230	-48.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.80 €2.49	$1.53 ₩2,039	-45.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.19 €1.95	$0.88 ₩1,181	-59.5%
Average			-52.7%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 67.7% more for groceries

	Finland	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.55 €2.27	$3.04 ₩4,055	+19.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18 €3.72	$6.12 ₩8,174	+46.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.89 €4.36	$8.23 ₩10,982	+68.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.23 €2.88	$2.94 ₩3,923	-9.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.94 €5.28	$4.11 ₩5,484	-30.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.95	$4.00 ₩5,342	+275.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.82	$1.55 ₩2,069	+68.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 €0.95	$3.00 ₩4,000	+182.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.75 €1.56	$2.63 ₩3,513	+50.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 €0.50	$2.03 ₩2,715	+264.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.77 €0.69	$1.26 ₩1,685	+63.3%
Average			+67.7%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.8% less for transportation

	Finland	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.37 €7.45	$5.01 ₩6,685	-40.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$69.28 €61.66	$46.10 ₩61,538	-33.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,392.23 €31,500.36	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-19.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.22 €17.11	$8.59 ₩11,470	-55.3%
Average			-34.8%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.2% less for housing

	Finland	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$23.47 €20.89	$24.34 ₩32,490	+3.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$812.17 €722.86	$561.73 ₩750K	-30.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$648.17 €576.89	$387.83 ₩518K	-40.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.50 €100.13	$153.72 ₩205K	+36.6%
Average			-26.2%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 55.3% more for childcare

	Finland	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$343.69 €305.90	$545.93 ₩729K	+58.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,310.70 €11,847.00	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+51.9%
Average			+55.3%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Finland	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.12 €7.23	$3.30 ₩4,403	-59.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.71 €4.19	$3.66 ₩4,888	-22.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.52 €11.14	$3.35 ₩4,467	-73.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.65 €38.85	$57.32 ₩76,507	+31.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.16 €15.27	$11.28 ₩15,062	-34.2%
Average			-32.9%

Finland vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.0% less for clothing

	Finland	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$91.56 €81.49	$67.53 ₩90,139	-26.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.36 €35.92	$53.43 ₩71,316	+32.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.65 €86.91	$78.10 ₩104K	-20.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.74 €130.61	$102.84 ₩137K	-29.9%
Average			-14.0%

Finland vs. South Korea - 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

Compare further: Finland vs. South Korea

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Size Comparison · See true size

Finland is about 3.4 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Finland to South Korea · OECD 2023

251 people moved from Finland to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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