Cost of living comparison

compared to

Seoul vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 6.6% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 43.5% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 49.2% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 22.7% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 35.5% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 30.6% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.2% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 16.3% less in Seoul

The cost of groceries and childcare in Seoul are more expensive than in Rome. Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Seoul.

Seoul vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.5% less for restaurants

	Rome	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.52 €14.93	$8.49 ₩12,520	-51.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 €9.95	$6.30 ₩9,286	-46.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 €2.13	$1.64 ₩2,416	-34.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 €1.14	$0.78 ₩1,151	-41.7%
Average			-43.5%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.2% more for groceries

	Rome	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.21 €1.89	$3.24 ₩4,774	+46.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.54 €8.13	$6.79 ₩10,016	-28.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 €6.06	$7.85 ₩11,571	+10.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.62 €3.94	$2.93 ₩4,323	-36.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.53 €4.71	$4.67 ₩6,883	-15.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.03	$3.45 ₩5,080	+184.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.04 €0.89	$1.52 ₩2,247	+46.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 €0.92	$2.35 ₩3,467	+118.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 €1.22	$2.77 ₩4,088	+93.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 €0.72	$1.62 ₩2,388	+90.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 €0.83	$1.30 ₩1,913	+32.6%
Average			+49.2%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.7% less for transportation

	Rome	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.66 €6.53	$4.43 ₩6,533	-42.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.88 €34.83	$45.99 ₩67,816	+12.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,199.74 €24,878.35	$25,072.36 ₩36,969,950	-14.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.86 €16.92	$10.50 ₩15,483	-47.1%
Average			-22.7%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.5% less for housing

	Rome	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.12 €27.36	$20.56 ₩30,311	-36.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,436.63 €1,224.02	$925.55 ₩1,364,758	-35.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$927.65 €790.37	$559.33 ₩824,748	-39.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$171.74 €146.33	$118.88 ₩175,294	-30.8%
Average			-35.5%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 30.6% more for childcare

	Rome	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.18 €484.09	$360.15 ₩531,049	-36.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,951.36 €9,330.63	$21,667.04 ₩31,948,695	+97.8%
Average			+30.6%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.84 €4.98	$3.54 ₩5,217	-39.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.01 €1.72	$3.70 ₩5,453	+83.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.18 €6.12	$3.18 ₩4,695	-55.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.65 €60.19	$56.34 ₩83,069	-20.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.68 €9.95	$10.61 ₩15,650	-9.1%
Average			-8.2%

Rome vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.3% less for clothing

	Rome	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.76 €69.66	$49.77 ₩73,380	-39.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.76 €32.18	$39.49 ₩58,230	+4.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.68 €75.56	$74.94 ₩110,505	-15.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$116.80 €99.51	$99.06 ₩146,064	-15.2%
Average			-16.3%

Rome vs. Seoul - 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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