Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 99.2% more expensive than Lusaka.

Restaurants: pay 61.7% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 80.5% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 37.6% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 4.4 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.6% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 74.6% more in Seoul

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, clothing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Seoul are more expensive than in Lusaka. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 61.7% more for restaurants

	Lusaka	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW112.60	$8.96 ₩12,215	+62.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW102.36	$7.46 ₩10,179	+48.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 ZMW15.35	$1.58 ₩2,158	+109.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZMW9.60	$0.79 ₩1,072	+66.8%
Average			+61.7%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 80.5% more for groceries

	Lusaka	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ZMW24.44	$3.10 ₩4,224	+158.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW104.86	$8.84 ₩12,055	+71.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 ZMW132.71	$7.79 ₩10,629	+19.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 ZMW39.50	$3.61 ₩4,917	+85.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW58.47	$4.74 ₩6,466	+65.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 ZMW31.08	$3.46 ₩4,724	+126.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW22.42	$1.57 ₩2,136	+42.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW33.66	$2.59 ₩3,537	+56.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW14.19	$2.83 ₩3,864	+306.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.71	$1.66 ₩2,259	+42.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.87	$1.16 ₩1,575	+39.4%
Average			+80.5%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.6% more for transportation

	Lusaka	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZMW117.51	$5.53 ₩7,545	-4.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW1,021.16	$46.28 ₩63,112	-7.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW154K	$29,385.60 ₩40M	+289.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW296.85	$8.51 ₩11,604	-41.6%
Average			+37.6%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Lusaka	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,119.57	$20.82 ₩28,392	-62.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.95 ZMW7,837.72	$886.39 ₩1M	+130.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$179.40 ZMW3,652.58	$620.25 ₩846K	+245.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,252.41	$162.69 ₩222K	+164.5%
Average			+152.7%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4 times more for childcare

	Lusaka	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,814.92	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+1294.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW339K	$22,602.27 ₩31M	+35.8%
Average			+335.2%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Lusaka	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.59	$3.73 ₩5,090	+196.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW57.44	$4.10 ₩5,593	+45.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW61.42	$3.36 ₩4,581	+11.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,113.17	$58.22 ₩79,399	+6.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW122.83	$11.20 ₩15,269	+85.6%
Average			+60.6%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 74.6% more for clothing

	Lusaka	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW473.94	$57.88 ₩78,937	+148.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW314.58	$32.77 ₩44,695	+112.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW920.02	$69.99 ₩95,451	+54.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,476.75	$82.45 ₩112K	+13.7%
Average			+74.6%

Lusaka vs. Seoul - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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