Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Nicaragua

Nicaragua vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 49.9% more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 31.9% less in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 4.4% more in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 53.1% less in Nicaragua

The cost of housing and groceries in Nicaragua are more expensive than in North Korea. Expenses including entertainment and sports and restaurants are lower in Nicaragua. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Nicaragua.

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Nicaragua vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of North Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 31.9% less for restaurants

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$7.07 NIO260.53	+47.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$6.94 NIO255.89	-67.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$0.86 NIO31.77	-60.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$0.62 NIO22.88	-51.5%
Average			-31.9%

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.4% more for groceries

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$1.71 NIO62.93	-25.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$3.70 NIO136.25
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$4.65 NIO171.26	+30.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$2.34 NIO86.37	+17.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.55 NIO93.99
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.82 NIO67.08
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.27 NIO10.03
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.82 NIO30.09
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.11 NIO40.73
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.68 NIO61.77
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.01 NIO37.13
Average			+4.4%

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$5.05 NIO186.17
Monthly public transit pass	??	$6.01 NIO221.41
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,973.64 NIO847K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$13.49 NIO497.29

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$32.47 NIO1,196.57
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	+228.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	+176.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$69.20 NIO2,550.23
Average			+201.2%

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$235.82 NIO8,690.94
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$6,060.00 NIO223K

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 53.1% less for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$1.40 NIO51.60	-89.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$2.60 NIO95.82	+132.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.73 NIO100.51
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	-56.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.00 NIO331.69
Average			-53.1%

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$59.88 NIO2,206.90
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$65.00 NIO2,395.54
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$122.64 NIO4,519.99
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$144.83 NIO5,337.49

North Korea vs. Nicaragua - 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: North Korea vs. Nicaragua

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Nicaragua?

Quality of Life Comparison · 15 statistics

Be 53.6% more likely to have access to electricity in Nicaragua

Size Comparison · See true size

North Korea is around the same size as Nicaragua.

Moving from North Korea to Nicaragua · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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