Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 3.9% more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.2% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 74.5% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 8.9% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 37.6% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 4.5 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.6% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 34.1% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2% more for restaurants

	Maldives	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.74	$7.06 ₩9,413	+17.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.88	$6.17 ₩8,222	-35.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.12	$1.53 ₩2,037	-6.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$0.88 ₩1,180	+197.9%
Average			+2.2%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 74.5% more for groceries

	Maldives	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.57	$3.04 ₩4,051	+83.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.75	$6.12 ₩8,166	+76.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.52	$8.23 ₩10,971	+20.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.89	$2.94 ₩3,919	+57.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.72	$4.11 ₩5,479	+48.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.83	$4.00 ₩5,336	+122.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.40	$1.55 ₩2,067	+11.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.56	$3.00 ₩3,996	+88.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.83	$2.63 ₩3,510	+115.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.63	$2.03 ₩2,713	+170.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.63	$1.26 ₩1,683	+83.5%
Average			+74.5%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.9% more for transportation

	Maldives	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.81	$5.01 ₩6,678	+31.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.23	$46.10 ₩61,477	+49.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR501K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-12.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.70	$8.59 ₩11,459	-51.0%
Average			+8.9%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.6% less for housing

	Maldives	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	$24.34 ₩32,458	-66.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	$561.73 ₩749K	-46.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,422.43	$387.83 ₩517K	-47.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	$153.72 ₩205K	+80.5%
Average			-37.6%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 4.5 times more for childcare

	Maldives	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	$545.93 ₩728K	+195.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+572.9%
Average			+345.7%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.19	$3.30 ₩4,398	-32.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.82	$3.66 ₩4,884	+3.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.56	$3.35 ₩4,463	-76.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	$57.32 ₩76,432	-19.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.39	$11.28 ₩15,047	+15.9%
Average			-20.6%

Maldives vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.1% more for clothing

	Maldives	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.41	$67.53 ₩90,049	+70.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR766.77	$53.43 ₩71,245	+7.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	$78.10 ₩104K	-10.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.17	$102.84 ₩137K	+95.9%
Average			+34.1%

Maldives 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Maldives vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 2.7 times more likely to live below the poverty line in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 335 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Maldives to South Korea · OECD 2023

1 people moved from Maldives to South Korea.

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