Cost of living comparison

Norway

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Norway Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 39.5% cheaper than Norway overall.

Restaurants: pay 65.4% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 8.6% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 43.9% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 56.5% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.4% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 29.2% less in South Korea

The cost of childcare and groceries in South Korea are more expensive than in Norway. Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing are lower in South Korea. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Norway Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 65.4% less for restaurants

	Norway	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.46 NOK206.81	$7.06 ₩9,413	-68.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$15.20 NOK139.96	$6.17 ₩8,222	-59.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.98 NOK36.69	$1.53 ₩2,037	-61.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.16 NOK29.14	$0.88 ₩1,180	-72.0%
Average			-65.4%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.6% more for groceries

	Norway	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.73 NOK34.36	$3.04 ₩4,051	-18.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.51 NOK59.95	$6.12 ₩8,166	-5.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.11 NOK83.89	$8.23 ₩10,971	-9.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.06 NOK46.62	$2.94 ₩3,919	-41.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.95 NOK63.98	$4.11 ₩5,479	-40.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 NOK14.89	$4.00 ₩5,336	+147.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.22 NOK11.24	$1.55 ₩2,067	+27.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 NOK15.22	$3.00 ₩3,996	+81.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.31 NOK21.30	$2.63 ₩3,510	+13.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 NOK11.00	$2.03 ₩2,713	+70.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.34 NOK12.32	$1.26 ₩1,683	-5.7%
Average			+8.6%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.9% less for transportation

	Norway	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.73 NOK80.40	$5.01 ₩6,678	-42.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.63 NOK724.04	$46.10 ₩61,477	-41.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$45,459.95 NOK419K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-37.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.74 NOK236.98	$8.59 ₩11,459	-66.6%
Average			-43.9%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.5% less for housing

	Norway	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.87 NOK606.57	$24.34 ₩32,458	-63.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,278.72 NOK11,775.13	$561.73 ₩749K	-56.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,052.00 NOK9,687.35	$387.83 ₩517K	-63.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$221.33 NOK2,038.08	$153.72 ₩205K	-30.5%
Average			-56.5%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Norway	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$256.93 NOK2,365.94	$545.93 ₩728K	+112.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,715.88 NOK89,468.69	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+108.1%
Average			+110.3%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Norway	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.32 NOK104.27	$3.30 ₩4,398	-70.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.55 NOK51.11	$3.66 ₩4,884	-34.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$16.96 NOK156.20	$3.35 ₩4,463	-80.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.57 NOK493.30	$57.32 ₩76,432	+7.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.67 NOK162.75	$11.28 ₩15,047	-36.2%
Average			-44.4%

Norway vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.2% less for clothing

	Norway	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$102.56 NOK944.43	$67.53 ₩90,049	-34.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.21 NOK517.57	$53.43 ₩71,245	-4.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.90 NOK1,159.33	$78.10 ₩104K	-38.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$159.02 NOK1,464.36	$102.84 ₩137K	-35.3%
Average			-29.2%

Norway 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Norway vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Norway is about 3.2 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Norway to South Korea · OECD 2023

178 people moved from Norway to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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