Cost of living comparison

Italy

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Italy Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 12.0% cheaper than Italy overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.8% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 47.2% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 24.7% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 23.6% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 39.0% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 9.0% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Italy Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.8% less for restaurants

	Italy	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.81 €16.74	$7.06 ₩9,422	-62.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.59 €10.31	$6.17 ₩8,230	-46.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.95 €2.62	$1.53 ₩2,039	-48.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 €1.23	$0.88 ₩1,181	-36.0%
Average			-53.8%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.2% more for groceries

	Italy	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.19 €1.95	$3.04 ₩4,055	+38.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.58 €7.64	$6.12 ₩8,174	-28.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.84 €5.20	$8.23 ₩10,982	+41.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.02 €3.58	$2.94 ₩3,923	-26.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 €5.02	$4.11 ₩5,484	-27.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 €1.02	$4.00 ₩5,342	+248.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.85	$1.55 ₩2,069	+61.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 €1.06	$3.00 ₩4,000	+152.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.45 €1.29	$2.63 ₩3,513	+81.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 €0.76	$2.03 ₩2,715	+137.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.81 €0.72	$1.26 ₩1,685	+55.1%
Average			+47.2%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% less for transportation

	Italy	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.75 €6.90	$5.01 ₩6,685	-35.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$43.51 €38.72	$46.10 ₩61,538	+6.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,598.57 €30,793.97	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-17.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.27 €18.04	$8.59 ₩11,470	-57.6%
Average			-24.7%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.6% less for housing

	Italy	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.01 €26.71	$24.34 ₩32,490	-18.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$723.52 €643.96	$561.73 ₩750K	-22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$562.80 €500.92	$387.83 ₩518K	-31.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.38 €144.52	$153.72 ₩205K	-5.3%
Average			-23.6%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 39.0% more for childcare

	Italy	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$542.33 €482.69	$545.93 ₩729K	+0.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,535.75 €9,377.19	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+91.9%
Average			+39.0%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Italy	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.64 €5.02	$3.30 ₩4,403	-41.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.96 €1.74	$3.66 ₩4,888	+87.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.73 €5.99	$3.35 ₩4,467	-50.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.93 €49.78	$57.32 ₩76,507	+2.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.26 €9.13	$11.28 ₩15,062	+10.0%
Average			-2.2%

Italy vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.0% less for clothing

	Italy	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.42 €76.92	$67.53 ₩90,139	-21.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.24 €34.03	$53.43 ₩71,316	+39.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.86 €88.88	$78.10 ₩104K	-21.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$127.82 €113.76	$102.84 ₩137K	-19.5%
Average			-9.0%

Italy 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: Italy vs. South Korea

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