Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 3.1 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 29.3% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 18.1% more in Riyadh
Housing: pay 11.1 times more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.1% less in Riyadh

The cost of housing and groceries in Riyadh are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Expenses including restaurants and entertainment and sports are lower in Riyadh. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Riyadh.

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Riyadh vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.3% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$7.99 SAR30.00	+66.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$7.99 SAR30.00	-62.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$0.87 SAR3.28	-60.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$0.31 SAR1.18	-75.5%
Average			-29.3%

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.1% more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$1.29 SAR4.83	-44.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$5.27 SAR19.78
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$6.76 SAR25.39	+90.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$3.08 SAR11.57	+54.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$4.34 SAR16.27
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.30 SAR4.88
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.87 SAR3.28
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.13 SAR4.23
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.80 SAR2.99
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.54 SAR2.04
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.59 SAR2.21
Average			+18.1%

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$2.35 SAR8.82
Monthly public transit pass	??	$37.31 SAR140.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$34,642.08 SAR130K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$18.12 SAR68.00

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.1 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$71.73 SAR269.20
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+1224.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+830.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$81.86 SAR307.20
Average			+1010.5%

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$530.73 SAR1,991.76
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.1% less for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$2.13 SAR8.00	-84.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$4.28 SAR16.07	+282.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$7.73 SAR29.00
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$89.94 SAR337.52	+19.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$13.32 SAR50.00
Average			-8.1%

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

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.30 SAR218.78
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$54.26 SAR203.65
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$102.59 SAR385.02
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$103.93 SAR390.02

P'yongyang vs. Riyadh - 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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