Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 74.0% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 38.5% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.8 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 1.2% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 94.7% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 70.2% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.1% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.5% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$6.72 ₩9,907	+15.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$5.50 ₩8,102	-21.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$1.47 ₩2,161	+108.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.82 ₩1,216	+50.2%
Average			+38.5%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.8 times more for groceries

	Nairobi	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$2.87 ₩4,235	+425.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$5.63 ₩8,290	+1.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$7.67 ₩11,311	+128.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.84 ₩4,180	+72.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$3.34 ₩4,917	+14.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$3.24 ₩4,768	+130.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$1.39 ₩2,045	+192.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$2.80 ₩4,121	+214.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$2.40 ₩3,543	+426.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$1.78 ₩2,627	+263.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$1.20 ₩1,775	+137.7%
Average			+182.4%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.2% more for transportation

	Nairobi	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$4.40 ₩6,485	-18.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$47.17 ₩69,524	+52.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	+22.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$8.33 ₩12,280	-51.1%
Average			+1.2%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 94.7% more for housing

	Nairobi	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$21.68 ₩31,958	-45.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$473.91 ₩698,442	-0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$357.19 ₩526,420	+73.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$132.53 ₩195,326	+351.9%
Average			+94.7%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 70.2% more for childcare

	Nairobi	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$378.52 ₩557,869	+68.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	+71.6%
Average			+70.2%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$3.12 ₩4,595	+34.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$3.57 ₩5,258	+50.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$3.18 ₩4,693	+2.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$49.86 ₩73,483	+10.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$10.12 ₩14,912	+37.6%
Average			+27.1%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Nairobi	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$66.46 ₩97,948	+238.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$50.68 ₩74,697	+103.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$72.74 ₩107,204	+7.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$103.23 ₩152,146	+65.8%
Average			+103.8%

Nairobi vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

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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: December 2025

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