Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Russia Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 62.7% more expensive than Russia overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.2% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.7 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 58.2% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 68.6% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 59.7% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.7% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 0.3% less in South Korea

The cost of groceries, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, transportation, and restaurants in South Korea are more expensive than in Russia. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Russia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.2% more for restaurants

	Russia	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.65 RUB799.55	$6.72 ₩10,118	-30.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.53 RUB458.10	$5.50 ₩8,275	-0.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 RUB87.43	$1.47 ₩2,207	+38.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 RUB42.46	$0.82 ₩1,242	+60.9%
Average			+17.2%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7 times more for groceries

	Russia	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.63 RUB52.21	$2.87 ₩4,326	+355.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.02 RUB415.99	$5.63 ₩8,467	+12.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.22 RUB349.63	$7.67 ₩11,553	+81.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 RUB132.42	$2.84 ₩4,269	+77.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 RUB182.24	$3.34 ₩5,022	+51.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 RUB65.38	$3.24 ₩4,870	+309.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 RUB66.42	$1.39 ₩2,089	+73.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB77.03	$2.80 ₩4,209	+200.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 RUB103.90	$2.40 ₩3,619	+91.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 RUB31.42	$1.78 ₩2,683	+369.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.30 RUB25.10	$1.20 ₩1,812	+297.3%
Average			+174.7%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 58.2% more for transportation

	Russia	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.69 RUB223.10	$4.40 ₩6,624	+63.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.72 RUB1,798.93	$47.17 ₩71,010	+117.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,562.55 RUB3M	$26,440.41 ₩40M	-16.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 RUB409.55	$8.33 ₩12,542	+68.5%
Average			+58.2%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.6% more for housing

	Russia	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$7.57 RUB626.89	$21.68 ₩32,641	+186.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$433.96 RUB35,941.75	$473.91 ₩713K	+9.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$300.84 RUB24,916.53	$357.19 ₩538K	+18.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.77 RUB6,854.93	$132.53 ₩200K	+60.1%
Average			+68.6%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 59.7% more for childcare

	Russia	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$300.70 RUB24,904.60	$378.52 ₩570K	+25.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,780.29 RUB644K	$15,055.40 ₩23M	+93.5%
Average			+59.7%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Russia	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 RUB140.74	$3.12 ₩4,694	+83.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 RUB179.55	$3.57 ₩5,371	+64.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.68 RUB222.19	$3.18 ₩4,793	+18.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.84 RUB2,968.59	$49.86 ₩75,055	+39.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.13 RUB424.49	$10.12 ₩15,231	+97.4%
Average			+60.7%

Russia vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.3% less for clothing

	Russia	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.56 RUB5,181.05	$66.46 ₩100K	+6.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.72 RUB3,621.26	$50.68 ₩76,294	+15.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 RUB8,525.13	$72.74 ₩109K	-29.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.34 RUB8,061.55	$103.23 ₩155K	+6.1%
Average			-0.3%

Russia 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: March 2026

Compare further: Russia vs. South Korea

Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics

Be 30.9% more likely to live below the poverty line in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Russia is about 171 times bigger than South Korea.

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