Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 21.8% more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 7.5% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 21.4% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 13.8% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 39.1% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.8% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 38.2% more in South Korea

The cost of childcare, clothing, groceries, transportation, and restaurants in South Korea are more expensive than in Papua New Guinea. Expenses including housing and entertainment and sports are lower in South Korea. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.5% more for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.87 PGK75.83	$6.72 ₩9,907	-62.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.92 PGK25.13	$5.50 ₩8,102	-7.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.41	$1.47 ₩2,161	+82.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 PGK2.99	$0.82 ₩1,216	+17.1%
Average			+7.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.4% more for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 PGK6.59	$2.87 ₩4,235	+85.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.60 PGK15.29	$5.63 ₩8,290	+56.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.76 PGK32.93	$7.67 ₩11,311	-1.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.00 PGK16.99	$2.84 ₩4,180	-29.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.63 PGK15.41	$3.34 ₩4,917	-8.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99 PGK8.44	$3.24 ₩4,768	+62.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 PGK5.61	$1.39 ₩2,045	+5.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.73 PGK11.60	$2.80 ₩4,121	+2.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 PGK6.89	$2.40 ₩3,543	+48.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58 PGK6.71	$1.78 ₩2,627	+12.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.18 PGK5.01	$1.20 ₩1,775	+1.9%
Average			+21.4%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.8% more for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.22 PGK17.89	$4.40 ₩6,485	+4.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.69 PGK100.53	$47.17 ₩69,524	+99.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,387.96 PGK94,999.61	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	+18.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.88 PGK105.56	$8.33 ₩12,280	-66.5%
Average			+13.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.1% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$165.84 PGK703.70	$21.68 ₩31,958	-86.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,652.44 PGK11,255.17	$473.91 ₩698,442	-82.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.54 PGK3,218.75	$357.19 ₩526,420	-52.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.08 PGK339.79	$132.53 ₩195,326	+65.5%
Average			-39.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$631.76 PGK2,680.77	$378.52 ₩557,869	-40.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,968.24 PGK16,838.56	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	+279.4%
Average			+119.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 PGK12.63	$3.12 ₩4,595	+4.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 PGK10.85	$3.57 ₩5,258	+39.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.96 PGK29.52	$3.18 ₩4,693	-54.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$73.52 PGK311.97	$49.86 ₩73,483	-32.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.30 PGK43.71	$10.12 ₩14,912	-1.8%
Average			-8.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.2% more for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$31.15 PGK132.20	$66.46 ₩97,948	+113.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.48 PGK154.81	$50.68 ₩74,697	+38.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.40 PGK324.21	$72.74 ₩107,204	-4.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.73 PGK414.68	$103.23 ₩152,146	+5.6%
Average			+38.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

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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

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