Cost of living comparison

compared to

Gwangju vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

Gwangju vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Gwangju instead of Madrid, you would:

pay 60.6% less for restaurants

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.10
€15.25
$6.72
₩9,685
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.68
€9.84
$5.66
₩8,156
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.13
€2.64
$1.32
₩1,897

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pay 42.9% more for groceries

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Bread
1 loaf
$1.71
€1.44
$2.29
₩3,296
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.25
€6.10
$3.54
₩5,097
Milk (1 gallon) $4.61
€3.88
$6.70
₩9,648

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pay 20.6% less for transportation

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Gasoline (1 gallon) $7.08
€5.96
$4.43
₩6,379
Monthly public transit pass $45.84
€38.61
$63.68
₩91,754
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $38,541.72
€32,464.39
$26,696.92
₩38M

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pay 46.6% less for housing

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$34.54
€29.09
$19.81
₩28,546
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,540.98
€1,298.00
$436.33
₩629K
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,118.82
€942.40
$341.99
₩493K

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pay 39.5% less for childcare

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $673.20
€567.04
$254.87
₩367K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $13,119.76
€11,051.01
$10,906.99
₩16M

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pay 24.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.50
€3.79
$2.83
₩4,078
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.20
€2.70
$3.48
₩5,013
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.01
€5.90
$3.18
₩4,588

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pay 33.0% less for clothing

 
Madrid
Gwangju
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$98.88
€83.29
$48.35
₩69,665
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.27
€34.76
$35.38
₩50,975
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$107.49
€90.54
$61.32
₩88,356

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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: February 2026
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