Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nuku'alofa vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Nuku'alofa is 2.8 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants
pay 66.0% more in Nuku'alofa
Groceries
pay 49.2% more in Nuku'alofa
Housing
pay 6.7 times more in Nuku'alofa
Entertainment and Sports
pay 36.3% more in Nuku'alofa

The cost of housing, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Nuku'alofa are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Nuku'alofa.

Nuku'alofa vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

pay 66.0% more for restaurants

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant ?? $8.31
TOP20.00
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
?? $10.38
TOP25.00
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.34
KPW2,102
$2.84
TOP6.83

Improve prices ·

pay 49.2% more for groceries

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Bread
1 loaf
$2.40
KPW2,161
$1.04
TOP2.50
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $4.50
TOP10.83
Milk (1 gallon) $3.70
KPW3,332
$5.92
TOP14.26

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $5.50
TOP13.25
Monthly public transit pass ?? $41.53
TOP100.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $5,814.53
TOP14,000.00

Improve prices ·

pay 6.7 times more for housing

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $124.60
TOP300.00
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $93.44
KPW84,095
$622.99
TOP1,500.00
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $262.80
KPW236,518
??

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $157.82
TOP380.00
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $249.19
TOP600.00

Improve prices ·

pay 36.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $14.02
KPW12,614
$3.32
TOP8.00
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.17
KPW1,051
$2.91
TOP7.00
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $10.18
TOP24.50

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
P'yongyang
Nuku'alofa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $14.54
TOP35.00
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $17.65
TOP42.50
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $20.77
TOP50.00

Improve prices ·
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Nuku'alofa 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.