Ho Chi Minh City vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 51.7% more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants
pay 70.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries
pay 13.1% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing
pay 4.7 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports
pay 65.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of P'yongyang, you would:

pay 70.6% less for restaurants

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.81
KPW4,327
$1.92
₫49,832
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$21.26
KPW19,136
$4.62
₫120K
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.21
KPW1,985
$0.54
₫13,905

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pay 13.1% less for groceries

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Bread
1 loaf
$2.30
KPW2,071
$1.08
₫27,843
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $6.05
₫157K
Milk (1 gallon) $3.55
KPW3,195
$6.13
₫159K

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $3.55
₫91,950
Monthly public transit pass ?? $11.55
₫299K
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $30,715.02
₫795M

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pay 4.7 times more for housing

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $10.46
₫271K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $89.58
KPW80,621
$585.86
₫15M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $89.58
KPW80,621
$297.81
₫8M

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $438.36
₫11M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $23,561.82
₫610M

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pay 65.0% less for entertainment and sports

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $13.44
KPW12,093
$1.03
₫26,762
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.12
KPW1,008
$1.81
₫46,978
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $1.23
₫31,892

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
P'yongyang
Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $51.59
₫1M
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $34.61
₫896K
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $91.59
₫2M

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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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