Cost of living comparison

Cambodia

compared to

North Korea

P'yongyang vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

P'yongyang is 49.7% cheaper than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 75.1% more in P'yongyang
Groceries: pay 10.4% less in P'yongyang
Housing: pay 81.7% less in P'yongyang
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in P'yongyang

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

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P'yongyang vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 75.1% more for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 KHR16,282.49	$4.81 KPW4,327	+20.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,494.35	$21.26 KPW19,136	+203.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.82 KHR7,428.89	$2.21 KPW1,985	+20.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.64 KHR2,600.68	$1.28 KPW1,153	+100.5%
Average			+75.1%

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.4% less for groceries

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 KHR6,582.93	$2.30 KPW2,071	+42.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.46 KHR30,360.06	??
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.16 KHR33,214.92	$3.55 KPW3,195	-56.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.72 KHR6,996.95	$2.00 KPW1,798	+16.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.89 KHR7,703.61	??
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 KHR7,277.91	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 KHR3,215.82	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 KHR7,785.68	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 KHR3,969.77	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 KHR2,935.78	??
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KHR2,292.62	??
Average			-10.4%

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 KHR20,702.80	??
Monthly public transit pass	$9.60 KHR39,077.97	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,000.00 KHR142M	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.11 KHR37,065.53	??

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of transportation

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pay 81.7% less for housing

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.89 KHR101K	??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$646.36 KHR3M	$89.58 KPW80,621	-86.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$370.33 KHR2M	$89.58 KPW80,621	-75.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.19 KHR331K	??
Average			-81.7%

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$661.77 KHR3M	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.71 KHR45M	??

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 KHR4,070.62	$13.44 KPW12,093	+1243.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.95 KHR11,992.68	$1.12 KPW1,008	-62.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.89 KHR7,693.48	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.62 KHR165K	$75.02 KPW67,520	+84.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 KHR20,353.11	??
Average			+109.1%

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	P'yongyang
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$28.00 KHR114K	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.00 KHR97,694.93	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.83 KHR370K	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$59.17 KHR241K	??

Phnom Penh vs. P'yongyang - 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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