Cost of living comparison

Netherlands

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Netherlands Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 37.7% cheaper than Netherlands overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.3% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 47.3% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 45.9% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 58.8% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 23.8% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.9% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 14.1% less in South Korea

Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, childcare, and clothing are lower in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Netherlands Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 63.3% less for restaurants

	Netherlands	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.24 €19.80	$7.06 ₩9,422	-68.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.74 €12.23	$6.17 ₩8,230	-55.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.60 €3.21	$1.53 ₩2,039	-57.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.95 €2.62	$0.88 ₩1,181	-70.0%
Average			-63.3%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.3% more for groceries

	Netherlands	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.06 €1.84	$3.04 ₩4,055	+47.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 €5.96	$6.12 ₩8,174	-8.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.08 €4.52	$8.23 ₩10,982	+62.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.71 €4.19	$2.94 ₩3,923	-37.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.35 €5.65	$4.11 ₩5,484	-35.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.03	$4.00 ₩5,342	+244.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.95	$1.55 ₩2,069	+45.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$3.00 ₩4,000	+227.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.94 €1.73	$2.63 ₩3,513	+35.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.74	$2.03 ₩2,715	+144.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.86 €0.76	$1.26 ₩1,685	+46.9%
Average			+47.3%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.9% less for transportation

	Netherlands	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.11 €8.11	$5.01 ₩6,685	-45.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$95.45 €84.95	$46.10 ₩61,538	-51.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,608.58 €36,143.10	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-30.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.41 €24.40	$8.59 ₩11,470	-68.7%
Average			-45.9%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 58.8% less for housing

	Netherlands	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.29 €42.98	$24.34 ₩32,490	-49.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,426.76 €1,269.87	$561.73 ₩750K	-60.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,174.28 €1,045.15	$387.83 ₩518K	-67.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$196.24 €174.66	$153.72 ₩205K	-21.7%
Average			-58.8%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 23.8% less for childcare

	Netherlands	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,884.17 €1,676.98	$545.93 ₩729K	-71.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,083.31 €8,974.51	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+100.5%
Average			-23.8%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Netherlands	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.25 €5.56	$3.30 ₩4,403	-47.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.16 €3.70	$3.66 ₩4,888	-11.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.60 €12.11	$3.35 ₩4,467	-75.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.62 €36.16	$57.32 ₩76,507	+41.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.51 €13.81	$11.28 ₩15,062	-27.2%
Average			-24.9%

Netherlands vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.1% less for clothing

	Netherlands	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$89.45 €79.61	$67.53 ₩90,139	-24.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.43 €38.65	$53.43 ₩71,316	+23.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.67 €89.60	$78.10 ₩104K	-22.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$136.42 €121.42	$102.84 ₩137K	-24.6%
Average			-14.1%

Netherlands 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: Netherlands vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Make 50.8% less money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Netherlands is about 2.4 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Netherlands to South Korea · OECD 2023

676 people moved from Netherlands to South Korea.

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