Cost of living comparison
compared to
Russia vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary
Russia is 70.7% more expensive than North Korea overall.
Russia vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Russia instead of North Korea, you would:
pay 17.8% less for restaurants
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$4.81
KPW4,327
|
$10.83
RUB894.72
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$21.26
KPW19,136
|
$6.39
RUB528.16
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.21
KPW1,985
|
$1.16
RUB95.62
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.28
KPW1,153
|
$0.60
RUB49.27
|
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of restaurants
pay 31.3% less for groceries
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.30
KPW2,071
|
$0.77
RUB63.38
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) | ?? |
$5.51
RUB455.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.55
KPW3,195
|
$4.39
RUB362.53
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.00
KPW1,798
|
$1.57
RUB129.78
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | ?? |
$2.44
RUB201.91
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.84
RUB69.40
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.80
RUB66.30
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.81
RUB67.22
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.33
RUB109.55
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.35
RUB29.18
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.28
RUB23.52
|
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of groceries
pay (unknown) more for transportation
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | ?? |
$3.08
RUB254.77
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$24.17
RUB1,997.57
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$32,081.81
RUB3M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$5.45
RUB450.28
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of transportation
pay 4.6 times more for housing
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$8.47
RUB700.03
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$89.58
KPW80,621
|
$496.53
RUB41,028.91
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$89.58
KPW80,621
|
$335.29
RUB27,705.54
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$92.30
RUB7,626.55
|
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$402.75
RUB33,279.52
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$9,958.40
RUB823K
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of childcare
pay 43.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$13.44
KPW12,093
|
$2.06
RUB170.10
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.12
KPW1,008
|
$2.73
RUB225.71
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$2.85
RUB235.62
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$75.02
KPW67,520
|
$37.43
RUB3,092.83
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$6.26
RUB517.18
|
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
North Korea
|
Russia
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$83.60
RUB6,907.85
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$55.20
RUB4,561.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$125.97
RUB10,408.90
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$111.42
RUB9,206.92
|
North Korea vs. Russia - Cost of clothing
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
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Compare further: North Korea vs. Russia
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Russia?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics
Be 73.9% more likely to have access to electricity in Russia
→
Size Comparison · See true size
North Korea is about 142 times smaller than Russia.
→
Moving from North Korea to Russia · UN DESA 2020
10,617 people born in North Korea live in Russia.
→
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