Cost of living comparison

compared to

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 4.7 times more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 52.6% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 55.5% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 15.6 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.1% more in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in North Korea. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of North Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 52.6% less for restaurants

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$17.87 PGK76.59
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$5.92 PGK25.38
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.34 KPW2,102	$0.80 PGK3.44	-65.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 KPW1,051	$0.70 PGK3.02	-39.7%
Average			-52.6%

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.5% more for groceries

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.40 KPW2,161	$1.55 PGK6.66	-35.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$3.60 PGK15.44
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 KPW3,332	$7.76 PGK33.26	+109.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.08 KPW1,876	$4.00 PGK17.16	+92.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$3.63 PGK15.56
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.99 PGK8.52
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.32 PGK5.66
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$2.73 PGK11.72
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.62 PGK6.96
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.58 PGK6.78
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.18 PGK5.06
Average			+55.5%

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.22 PGK18.07
Monthly public transit pass	??	$23.69 PGK101.54
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,387.96 PGK95,952.53
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$24.88 PGK106.61

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.6 times more for housing

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$165.84 PGK710.76
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$93.44 KPW84,095	$2,652.44 PGK11,368.07	+2738.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$262.80 KPW236,518	$758.54 PGK3,251.04	+188.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$80.08 PGK343.20
Average			+1463.6%

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$631.76 PGK2,707.66
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$3,968.24 PGK17,007.46

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.1% more for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$14.02 KPW12,614	$2.98 PGK12.75	-78.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.17 KPW1,051	$2.56 PGK10.96	+119.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$6.96 PGK29.82
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$73.52 PGK315.10
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$10.30 PGK44.14
Average			+20.1%

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$31.15 PGK133.52
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$36.48 PGK156.37
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$76.40 PGK327.46
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$97.73 PGK418.84

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - 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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