Cost of living comparison

compared to

Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 5.0% more expensive than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 34.2% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 42.1% less in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 2.9% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 17.3% less in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.9% less in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 30.6% more in Addis Ababa

The cost of housing and clothing in Addis Ababa are more expensive than in Seoul. Expenses including groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, childcare, and transportation are lower in Addis Ababa. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of Seoul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 34.2% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.49 ₩12,461	$4.26 ETB655.54	-49.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.30 ₩9,242	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	+3.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ₩2,405	$0.61 ETB93.51	-62.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ₩1,146	$0.57 ETB87.20	-27.4%
Average			-34.2%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.1% less for groceries

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.24 ₩4,752	$1.26 ETB193.73	-61.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.79 ₩9,969	$4.34 ETB667.36	-36.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.85 ₩11,517	$5.42 ETB834.53	-30.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.93 ₩4,303	$2.28 ETB351.02	-22.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 ₩6,851	$5.76 ETB886.79	+23.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.45 ₩5,057	$3.08 ETB473.48	-10.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.52 ₩2,237	$0.43 ETB66.40	-71.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.35 ₩3,451	$1.06 ETB162.78	-55.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.77 ₩4,069	$0.40 ETB62.30	-85.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 ₩2,376	$0.28 ETB42.45	-83.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 ₩1,904	$0.91 ETB139.43	-30.1%
Average			-42.1%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.9% less for transportation

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.43 ₩6,502	$4.81 ETB740.52	+8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.99 ₩67,498	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	-73.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,072.36 ₩36,796,951	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	+119.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.50 ₩15,410	$3.62 ETB556.29	-65.6%
Average			-2.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.56 ₩30,169	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	+533.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$925.55 ₩1,358,372	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	-11.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$559.33 ₩820,889	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	-8.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.88 ₩174,474	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	+2.6%
Average			+128.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.3% less for childcare

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$360.15 ₩528,564	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	-73.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,667.04 ₩31,799,193	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	+39.3%
Average			-17.3%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.54 ₩5,192	$0.90 ETB138.50	-74.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 ₩5,427	$1.09 ETB167.35	-70.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,673	$5.10 ETB784.81	+60.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$56.34 ₩82,680	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	+10.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.61 ₩15,577	$3.75 ETB577.06	-64.7%
Average			-27.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.6% more for clothing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.77 ₩73,037	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	-9.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.49 ₩57,958	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	+90.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.94 ₩109,988	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	+25.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.06 ₩145,381	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	+16.2%
Average			+30.6%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Seoul vs.

Cairo

Seoul vs.

Ankara

Seoul vs.

Mexico City

Seoul vs.

Dublin

Seoul vs.

Rome

Seoul vs.

Nairobi

Seoul vs.

Wellington

Seoul vs.

Athens

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in South Korea vs. Ethiopia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within South Korea and Ethiopia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Seoul

Add prices for Addis Ababa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Addis Ababa or Seoul. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.