Cost of living comparison

Poland

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Poland Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 13.6% more expensive than Poland overall.

Restaurants: pay 30.0% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 0.7% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 18.3% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.8% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 4.5% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Poland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Poland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 30.0% less for restaurants

	Poland	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.02 PLN38.91	$7.06 ₩9,422	-29.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.33 PLN32.36	$6.17 ₩8,230	-26.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 PLN7.99	$1.53 ₩2,039	-25.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69 PLN6.55	$0.88 ₩1,181	-47.6%
Average			-30.0%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Poland	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 PLN4.91	$3.04 ₩4,055	+140.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 PLN16.87	$6.12 ₩8,174	+41.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.75 PLN14.56	$8.23 ₩10,982	+119.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.32 PLN12.89	$2.94 ₩3,923	-11.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.84 PLN11.04	$4.11 ₩5,484	+44.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 PLN1.99	$4.00 ₩5,342	+682.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 PLN2.79	$1.55 ₩2,069	+116.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.00	$3.00 ₩4,000	+288.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 PLN4.76	$2.63 ₩3,513	+115.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 PLN1.49	$2.03 ₩2,715	+432.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 PLN1.76	$1.26 ₩1,685	+178.4%
Average			+145.9%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.7% more for transportation

	Poland	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 PLN23.90	$5.01 ₩6,685	-18.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.85 PLN119.83	$46.10 ₩61,538	+49.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,440.20 PLN118K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-6.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.65 PLN33.58	$8.59 ₩11,470	-0.6%
Average			+0.7%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.3% less for housing

	Poland	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.87 PLN65.54	$24.34 ₩32,490	+44.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$635.08 PLN2,467.09	$561.73 ₩750K	-11.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$525.98 PLN2,043.28	$387.83 ₩518K	-26.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$213.80 PLN830.55	$153.72 ₩205K	-28.1%
Average			-18.3%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Poland	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$375.24 PLN1,457.68	$545.93 ₩729K	+45.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,342.23 PLN28,522.48	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+175.3%
Average			+100.1%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Poland	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 PLN13.36	$3.30 ₩4,403	-4.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.38 PLN13.13	$3.66 ₩4,888	+8.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.25 PLN20.38	$3.35 ₩4,467	-36.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.23 PLN140.74	$57.32 ₩76,507	+58.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.22 PLN28.04	$11.28 ₩15,062	+56.4%
Average			+20.8%

Poland vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.5% more for clothing

	Poland	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.02 PLN314.75	$67.53 ₩90,139	-16.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.65 PLN142.38	$53.43 ₩71,316	+45.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.93 PLN333.81	$78.10 ₩104K	-9.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.22 PLN369.91	$102.84 ₩137K	+8.0%
Average			+4.5%

Poland vs. South Korea - 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

Compare further: Poland vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Poland is about 3.1 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Poland to South Korea · OECD 2023

330 people moved from Poland to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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