Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Moldova Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 57.0% more expensive than Moldova overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.5% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 3.0 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 23.0% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 32.8% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 80.6% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 23.7% more in South Korea

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, clothing, and transportation in South Korea are more expensive than in Moldova. Notably, childcare, groceries, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Moldova Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.5% less for restaurants

	Moldova	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.35 MDL167.15	$7.06 ₩9,413	-24.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.74 MDL156.28	$6.17 ₩8,222	-29.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 MDL18.23	$1.53 ₩2,037	+49.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 MDL11.99	$0.88 ₩1,180	+31.9%
Average			-16.5%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.0 times more for groceries

	Moldova	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.51 MDL9.08	$3.04 ₩4,051	+497.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.87 MDL69.24	$6.12 ₩8,166	+58.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 MDL78.82	$8.23 ₩10,971	+86.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MDL41.28	$2.94 ₩3,919	+27.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MDL39.31	$4.11 ₩5,479	+86.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.45 MDL8.07	$4.00 ₩5,336	+786.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 MDL16.57	$1.55 ₩2,067	+67.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.59	$3.00 ₩3,996	+243.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MDL18.56	$2.63 ₩3,510	+153.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.61	$2.03 ₩2,713	+548.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 MDL4.20	$1.26 ₩1,683	+438.0%
Average			+201.8%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.0% more for transportation

	Moldova	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 MDL109.96	$5.01 ₩6,678	-18.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.07 MDL305.22	$46.10 ₩61,477	+170.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,274.90 MDL577K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-12.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.30 MDL76.89	$8.59 ₩11,459	+99.8%
Average			+23.0%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.8% more for housing

	Moldova	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.64 MDL190.16	$24.34 ₩32,458	+128.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.42 MDL7,408.91	$561.73 ₩749K	+35.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.91 MDL5,397.46	$387.83 ₩517K	+28.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.34 MDL2,401.73	$153.72 ₩205K	+14.4%
Average			+32.8%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	Moldova	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.48 MDL3,923.84	$545.93 ₩728K	+148.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,438.11 MDL97,220.90	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+271.7%
Average			+204.1%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 80.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Moldova	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 MDL26.74	$3.30 ₩4,398	+120.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.77 MDL31.61	$3.66 ₩4,884	+107.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.38 MDL60.51	$3.35 ₩4,463	-1.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.66 MDL565.92	$57.32 ₩76,432	+81.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.45 MDL115.33	$11.28 ₩15,047	+74.9%
Average			+80.6%

Moldova vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.7% more for clothing

	Moldova	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.78 MDL943.56	$67.53 ₩90,049	+28.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.13 MDL681.64	$53.43 ₩71,245	+40.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.27 MDL1,649.64	$78.10 ₩104K	-15.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.57 MDL1,190.11	$102.84 ₩137K	+54.5%
Average			+23.7%

Moldova 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: Moldova vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 4.2 times more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Moldova is about 3 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Moldova to South Korea · OECD 2023

20 people moved from Moldova to South Korea.

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