Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 27.3% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 3.5% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 18.4% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 59.3% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 97.5% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 33.8% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Laos	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,211	$7.06 ₩9,422	+216.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$6.17 ₩8,230	+15.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,779	$1.53 ₩2,039	+93.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,439	$0.88 ₩1,181	+91.0%
Average			+101.3%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Laos	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$3.04 ₩4,055	+166.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK290K	$6.12 ₩8,174	-52.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$8.23 ₩10,982	+18.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.94 ₩3,923	+57.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$4.11 ₩5,484	+46.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,975	$4.00 ₩5,342	+375.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.55 ₩2,069	+199.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$3.00 ₩4,000	+151.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$2.63 ₩3,513	+279.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$2.03 ₩2,715	+207.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$1.26 ₩1,685	+158.7%
Average			+111.2%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5% less for transportation

	Laos	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$5.01 ₩6,685	-0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$46.10 ₩61,538	-13.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK628M	$28,394.53 ₩38M	+1.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK206K	$8.59 ₩11,470	-5.9%
Average			-3.5%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.4% less for housing

	Laos	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$24.34 ₩32,490	+156.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$561.73 ₩750K	-36.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$387.83 ₩518K	-38.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$153.72 ₩205K	+133.7%
Average			-18.4%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 59.3% more for childcare

	Laos	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$545.93 ₩729K	+25.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK225M	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+102.5%
Average			+59.3%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 97.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,812	$3.30 ₩4,403	+149.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,366	$3.66 ₩4,888	+120.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.35 ₩4,467	+87.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$57.32 ₩76,507	-11.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,750	$11.28 ₩15,062	+240.2%
Average			+97.5%

Laos vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.8% more for clothing

	Laos	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$67.53 ₩90,139	+39.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$53.43 ₩71,316	-15.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$78.10 ₩104K	+21.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$102.84 ₩137K	+123.5%
Average			+33.8%

Laos 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: Laos vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 15.6 times more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 2.4 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Laos to South Korea · OECD 2023

3,532 people moved from Laos to South Korea.

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