Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Taiwan

Taipei vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Taipei is 2.7 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 46.7% less in Taipei
Groceries: pay 57.3% more in Taipei
Housing: pay 7.8 times more in Taipei
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.7% less in Taipei

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

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Taipei vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.7% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.81 KPW4,327	$4.71 NT$150.49	-2.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.26 KPW19,136	$5.65 NT$180.59	-73.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 KPW1,985	$0.92 NT$29.35	-58.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.28 KPW1,153	$0.65 NT$20.86	-49.0%
Average			-46.7%

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - Cost of restaurants

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pay 57.3% more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 KPW2,071	$2.02 NT$64.65	-12.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$9.85 NT$314.68
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.55 KPW3,195	$11.54 NT$368.90	+225.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.00 KPW1,798	$2.72 NT$87.00	+36.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$4.45 NT$142.21
Apples (1 lb)	??	$2.23 NT$71.26
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.51 NT$48.15
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.38 NT$44.23
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.02 NT$64.54
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.25 NT$39.84
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.04 NT$33.27
Average			+57.3%

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$3.94 NT$126.01
Monthly public transit pass	??	$37.67 NT$1,203.90
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$33,523.97 NT$1M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.95 NT$285.93

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.8 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$27.40 NT$875.71
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$89.58 KPW80,621	$1,012.31 NT$32,354.87	+1030.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.58 KPW80,621	$482.92 NT$15,434.64	+439.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$66.27 NT$2,118.10
Average			+680.5%

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$662.67 NT$21,179.76
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$16,675.66 NT$533K

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.7% less for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.44 KPW12,093	$2.83 NT$90.29	-79.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.12 KPW1,008	$3.42 NT$109.45	+205.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.92 NT$125.41
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.02 KPW67,520	$41.15 NT$1,315.12	-45.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.73 NT$311.01
Average			-30.7%

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

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Taipei
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$63.18 NT$2,019.38
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$39.99 NT$1,277.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$84.98 NT$2,715.95
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$105.09 NT$3,358.66

P'yongyang vs. Taipei - 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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