Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Australia

Sydney vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Sydney is 5.8 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 57.3% more in Sydney
Groceries: pay 83.9% more in Sydney
Housing: pay 23.4 times more in Sydney
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.4% more in Sydney

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

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Sydney vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 57.3% more for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$17.41 A$25.04	+262.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$11.84 A$17.03	-44.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$2.81 A$4.04	+27.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$2.22 A$3.19	+73.0%
Average			+57.3%

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - Cost of restaurants

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pay 83.9% more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$2.85 A$4.09	+23.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$5.93 A$8.54
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$6.42 A$9.24	+80.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$5.56 A$7.99	+178.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$4.34 A$6.24
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.81 A$2.60
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.45 A$2.09
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.56 A$2.24
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.98 A$2.85
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.48 A$2.12
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.07 A$1.54
Average			+83.9%

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$5.40 A$7.77
Monthly public transit pass	??	$151.36 A$217.75
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$28,893.97 A$41,568.07
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$16.24 A$23.36

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.4 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$56.21 A$80.87
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$2,517.32 A$3,621.52	+2710.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$1,743.66 A$2,508.51	+1846.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$168.46 A$242.35
Average			+2238.8%

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$2,195.71 A$3,158.84
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$28,441.13 A$40,916.61

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.4% more for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$7.66 A$11.02	-43.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$3.97 A$5.72	+254.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$44.55 A$64.09
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$75.28 A$108.30	+0.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$17.41 A$25.04
Average			+24.4%

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

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Sydney
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$78.68 A$113.19
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$69.62 A$100.16
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$111.40 A$160.26
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$133.24 A$191.68

P'yongyang vs. Sydney - 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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