Addis Ababa vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 77.4% more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants
pay 50.0% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries
pay 19.2% less in Addis Ababa
Housing
pay 5.9 times more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports
pay 67.8% less in Addis Ababa

Expenses including entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries are lower in Addis Ababa. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of P'yongyang, you would:

pay 50.0% less for restaurants

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.81
KPW4,327
$4.00
ETB654.34
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$21.26
KPW19,136
$6.50
ETB1,063.31
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.21
KPW1,985
$0.61
ETB99.06

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pay 19.2% less for groceries

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Bread
1 loaf
$2.30
KPW2,071
$1.19
ETB194.58
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $3.70
ETB604.57
Milk (1 gallon) $3.55
KPW3,195
$4.09
ETB669.40

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $3.53
ETB577.22
Monthly public transit pass ?? $21.11
ETB3,453.30
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $55,000.00
ETB9M

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pay 5.9 times more for housing

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $212.33
ETB34,734.76
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $89.58
KPW80,621
$706.95
ETB116K
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $89.58
KPW80,621
$394.55
ETB64,542.82

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $136.41
ETB22,314.75
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $30,187.50
ETB5M

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pay 67.8% less for entertainment and sports

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $13.44
KPW12,093
$0.80
ETB130.87
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.12
KPW1,008
$0.92
ETB150.32
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $8.00
ETB1,308.69

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
P'yongyang
Addis Ababa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $33.14
ETB5,421.12
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $70.86
ETB11,591.24
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $78.65
ETB12,865.68

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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

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