Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Hong Kong

Hong Kong vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Hong Kong is 5.1 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 21.8% less in Hong Kong
Groceries: pay 77.3% more in Hong Kong
Housing: pay 21.6 times more in Hong Kong
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.1% more in Hong Kong

The cost of housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Hong Kong are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Notably, housing and groceries are significantly more expensive in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.8% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$8.28 HK$65.00	+72.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$6.37 HK$50.00	-70.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$1.30 HK$10.24	-40.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$1.09 HK$8.59	-14.6%
Average			-21.8%

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of restaurants

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pay 77.3% more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$2.37 HK$18.59	+2.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$12.52 HK$98.23
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$11.07 HK$86.91	+212.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$3.47 HK$27.20	+73.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$3.96 HK$31.06
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.87 HK$14.70
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.25 HK$9.78
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$2.09 HK$16.41
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.80 HK$14.11
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.43 HK$11.25
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.44 HK$11.31
Average			+77.3%

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$15.51 HK$121.73
Monthly public transit pass	??	$89.19 HK$700.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$44,597.12 HK$350K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$14.40 HK$113.00

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.6 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$21.52 HK$168.90
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$2,207.41 HK$17,324.05	+2364.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$1,690.00 HK$13,263.34	+1786.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$190.59 HK$1,495.82
Average			+2056.1%

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$1,171.99 HK$9,197.98
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$22,295.74 HK$175K

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.1% more for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$7.65 HK$60.00	-43.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$5.04 HK$39.56	+350.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$13.38 HK$105.00
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$93.07 HK$730.44	+24.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$13.70 HK$107.50
Average			+45.1%

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Hong Kong
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$67.63 HK$530.78
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$41.11 HK$322.62
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$80.54 HK$632.08
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$119.85 HK$940.64

P'yongyang vs. Hong Kong - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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