Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Syria

Damascus vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Damascus is 41.9% more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 9.4% less in Damascus
Groceries: pay 46.1% less in Damascus
Housing: pay 3.5 times more in Damascus
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.9% less in Damascus

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

Planning a move to Syria? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Damascus vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.4% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$10.00 SYP130K	+108.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$7.00 SYP91,014	-67.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$2.25 SYP29,254	+2.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$0.85 SYP11,008	-33.9%
Average			-9.4%

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.1% less for groceries

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$0.40 SYP5,199	-82.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$1.96 SYP25,477
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$4.03 SYP52,433	+13.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$1.59 SYP20,653	-20.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.59 SYP33,645
Apples (1 lb)	??	$0.47 SYP6,174
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.63 SYP8,218
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.51 SYP6,582
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.47 SYP6,154
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.35 SYP4,563
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.35 SYP4,608
Average			-46.1%

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$13.98 SYP182K
Monthly public transit pass	??	$10.00 SYP130K
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$15,000.00 SYP195M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$13.15 SYP171K

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.5 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$46.25 SYP601K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$523.33 SYP7M	+484.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$186.00 SYP2M	+107.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$107.06 SYP1M
Average			+248.3%

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$66.67 SYP867K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$1,780.73 SYP23M

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.9% less for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$2.00 SYP26,004	-85.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$3.71 SYP48,293	+231.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.77 SYP36,000
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$28.00 SYP364K	-62.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$5.50 SYP71,511
Average			-44.9%

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Damascus
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$28.60 SYP372K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$40.00 SYP520K
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$60.00 SYP780K
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$58.33 SYP758K

P'yongyang vs. Damascus - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: P'yongyang vs. Damascus

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Damascus?

More cost comparisons

P'yongyang vs.

London

P'yongyang vs.

Reykjavik

P'yongyang vs.

Athens

P'yongyang vs.

Canberra

P'yongyang vs.

Paris

P'yongyang vs.

Rome

P'yongyang vs.

Lima

P'yongyang vs.

Cairo

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in North Korea vs. Syria. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within North Korea and Syria.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for P'yongyang

Add prices for Damascus

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Damascus or P'yongyang. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.