Ulaanbaatar vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Ulaanbaatar is 97.3% more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants
pay 43.8% less in Ulaanbaatar
Groceries
pay 11.0% less in Ulaanbaatar
Housing
pay 5.6 times more in Ulaanbaatar
Entertainment and Sports
pay 28.7% less in Ulaanbaatar

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Ulaanbaatar. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Ulaanbaatar.

Ulaanbaatar vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

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

pay 43.8% less for restaurants

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.81
KPW4,327
$5.56
MNT20,000.00
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$21.26
KPW19,136
$5.56
MNT20,000.00
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.21
KPW1,985
$0.86
MNT3,083.33

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pay 11.0% less for groceries

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Bread
1 loaf
$2.30
KPW2,071
$1.00
MNT3,588.33
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $6.18
MNT22,248.75
Milk (1 gallon) $3.55
KPW3,195
$5.49
MNT19,758.34

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $4.32
MNT15,549.41
Monthly public transit pass ?? $16.67
MNT60,000.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $26,896.36
MNT97M

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pay 5.6 times more for housing

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $13.63
MNT49,062.50
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $89.58
KPW80,621
$569.30
MNT2M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $89.58
KPW80,621
$444.50
MNT2M

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $817.79
MNT3M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $8,262.71
MNT30M

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pay 28.7% less for entertainment and sports

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $13.44
KPW12,093
$2.36
MNT8,500.00
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.12
KPW1,008
$2.42
MNT8,692.31
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $1.68
MNT6,044.89

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
P'yongyang
Ulaanbaatar
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $81.73
MNT294K
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $45.38
MNT163K
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $102.93
MNT370K

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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