Cost of living comparison

Vanuatu

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Port Vila Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 29.2% cheaper than Port Vila.

Restaurants: pay 41.2% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 12.7% less in Seoul
Transportation: pay 9.8% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 54.1% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.6% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 17.5% less in Seoul

Expenses including housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Seoul. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. Port Vila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of Port Vila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.2% less for restaurants

	Port Vila	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.67 VUV1,500	$8.96 ₩12,215	-29.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.35 VUV1,700	$7.46 ₩10,179	-48.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 VUV270	$1.58 ₩2,158	-30.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 VUV279	$0.79 ₩1,072	-66.6%
Average			-41.2%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.7% less for groceries

	Port Vila	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 VUV230	$3.10 ₩4,224	+59.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.86 VUV1,050	$8.84 ₩12,055	-0.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.63 VUV1,259	$7.79 ₩10,629	-26.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.23 VUV737	$3.61 ₩4,917	-42.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.40 VUV877	$4.74 ₩6,466	-36.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 VUV384	$3.46 ₩4,724	+6.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$1.57 ₩2,136	+63.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78 VUV211	$2.59 ₩3,537	+45.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.21 VUV499	$2.83 ₩3,864	-32.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$4.02 VUV476	$1.66 ₩2,259	-58.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.57 VUV186	$1.16 ₩1,575	-26.4%
Average			-12.7%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.8% less for transportation

	Port Vila	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.78 VUV803	$5.53 ₩7,545	-18.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.55 VUV8,000	$46.28 ₩63,112	-31.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,220.47 VUV3M	$29,385.60 ₩40M	+26.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.29 VUV1,100	$8.51 ₩11,604	-8.4%
Average			-9.8%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.1% less for housing

	Port Vila	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$363.08 VUV43,000	$20.82 ₩28,392	-94.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,579.90 VUV187K	$886.39 ₩1M	-43.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,131.05 VUV134K	$620.25 ₩846K	-45.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$484.28 VUV57,353	$162.69 ₩222K	-66.4%
Average			-54.1%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Port Vila	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$624.84 VUV74,000	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+208.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,873.26 VUV814K	$22,602.27 ₩31M	+228.8%
Average			+218.5%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Vila	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.07 VUV600	$3.73 ₩5,090	-26.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.08 VUV483	$4.10 ₩5,593	+0.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.29 VUV1,100	$3.36 ₩4,581	-63.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.29 VUV8,088	$58.22 ₩79,399	-14.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$11.20 ₩15,269
Average			-23.6%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.5% less for clothing

	Port Vila	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.99 VUV4,854	$57.88 ₩78,937	+41.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.55 VUV8,000	$32.77 ₩44,695	-51.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.40 VUV9,995	$69.99 ₩95,451	-17.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.28 VUV11,995	$82.45 ₩112K	-18.6%
Average			-17.5%

Port Vila vs. Seoul - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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