Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 37.3% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 54.5% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 52.7% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 54.8% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 62.9% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 54.8% less in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.9% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 40.0% less in Seoul

Expenses including housing, transportation, childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. London Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of London, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.5% less for restaurants

	London	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.73 £20.02	$8.49 ₩12,985	-68.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.02 £8.26	$6.30 ₩9,630	-42.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.12 £2.34	$1.64 ₩2,506	-47.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 £1.44	$0.78 ₩1,194	-59.5%
Average			-54.5%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.7% more for groceries

	London	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 £1.62	$3.24 ₩4,952	+50.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.54 £4.15	$6.79 ₩10,388	+22.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 £4.93	$7.85 ₩12,001	+19.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02 £3.76	$2.93 ₩4,483	-41.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.95 £2.96	$4.67 ₩7,139	+18.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 £1.14	$3.45 ₩5,269	+125.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$1.52 ₩2,331	+82.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.08	$2.35 ₩3,596	+63.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.23	$2.77 ₩4,240	+69.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 £0.57	$1.62 ₩2,476	+113.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.62	$1.30 ₩1,984	+55.9%
Average			+52.7%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.8% less for transportation

	London	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.12 £5.33	$4.43 ₩6,776	-37.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$240.54 £180.15	$45.99 ₩70,335	-80.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,798.76 £28,308.36	$25,072.36 ₩38M	-33.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.75 £23.78	$10.50 ₩16,058	-66.9%
Average			-54.8%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.9% less for housing

	London	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.83 £32.08	$20.56 ₩31,437	-52.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,083.09 £2,309.00	$925.55 ₩1M	-70.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,340.14 £1,752.58	$559.33 ₩855K	-76.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$255.85 £191.61	$118.88 ₩182K	-53.5%
Average			-62.9%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 54.8% less for childcare

	London	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,480.84 £1,857.96	$360.15 ₩551K	-85.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,512.27 £21,353.50	$21,667.04 ₩33M	-24.0%
Average			-54.8%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.9% less for entertainment and sports

	London	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.69 £6.51	$3.54 ₩5,410	-59.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.21 £3.90	$3.70 ₩5,655	-29.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.72 £17.01	$3.18 ₩4,869	-86.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.95 £48.65	$56.34 ₩86,154	-13.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.05 £15.01	$10.61 ₩16,231	-47.1%
Average			-46.9%

London vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.0% less for clothing

	London	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$116.11 £86.95	$49.77 ₩76,106	-57.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.02 £38.96	$39.49 ₩60,393	-24.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.96 £94.34	$74.94 ₩115K	-40.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$160.88 £120.48	$99.06 ₩151K	-38.4%
Average			-40.0%

London vs. Seoul - 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: July 2026

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