Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Mongolia Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 34.8% more expensive than Mongolia overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.4% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 46.1% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 13.3% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 27.8% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.2% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 20.2% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Mongolia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.4% more for restaurants

	Mongolia	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$7.06 ₩9,343	+27.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$6.17 ₩8,161	+11.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$1.53 ₩2,022	+78.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.88 ₩1,171	+49.9%
Average			+27.4%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Mongolia	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$3.04 ₩4,021	+204.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$6.12 ₩8,105	-0.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$8.23 ₩10,890	+49.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$2.94 ₩3,890	+39.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$4.11 ₩5,438	+85.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$4.00 ₩5,297	+187.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$1.55 ₩2,051	+42.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$3.00 ₩3,966	+77.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$2.63 ₩3,484	+91.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$2.03 ₩2,692	+516.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$1.26 ₩1,671	+162.6%
Average			+104.6%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.1% more for transportation

	Mongolia	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$5.01 ₩6,628	+15.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$46.10 ₩61,021	+176.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$28,394.53 ₩38M	+5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$8.59 ₩11,373	+76.7%
Average			+46.1%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.3% more for housing

	Mongolia	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$24.34 ₩32,217	+78.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$561.73 ₩743K	-1.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$387.83 ₩513K	-12.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$153.72 ₩203K	+182.7%
Average			+13.3%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 27.8% more for childcare

	Mongolia	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$545.93 ₩723K	-33.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+144.6%
Average			+27.8%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Mongolia	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$3.30 ₩4,366	+39.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$3.66 ₩4,847	+51.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$3.35 ₩4,430	+99.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$57.32 ₩75,865	-15.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$11.28 ₩14,936	+170.8%
Average			+53.2%

Mongolia vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.2% less for clothing

	Mongolia	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$67.53 ₩89,381	-17.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$53.43 ₩70,717	+17.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$78.10 ₩103K	-24.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$102.84 ₩136K	-45.2%
Average			-20.2%

Mongolia 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Mongolia vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 5.1 times more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Mongolia is about 16 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Mongolia to South Korea · OECD 2023

11,729 people moved from Mongolia to South Korea.

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