Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 37.8% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 40.9% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 64.2% less in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 22.4% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 14.9% less in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 69.3% less in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 57.8% less in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 8.7% more in Addis Ababa

Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, and housing are lower in Addis Ababa.

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Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 40.9% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩12,215	$4.00 ETB657.82	-55.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩10,179	$6.50 ETB1,068.96	-12.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,158	$0.61 ETB99.59	-61.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,072	$0.66 ETB108.07	-16.4%
Average			-40.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 64.2% less for groceries

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,224	$1.19 ETB195.62	-61.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩12,055	$3.70 ETB607.78	-58.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,629	$4.09 ETB672.95	-47.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,917	$1.77 ETB291.17	-50.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,466	$4.59 ETB754.33	-3.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,724	$2.44 ETB401.56	-29.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,136	$0.30 ETB48.98	-81.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,537	$0.99 ETB162.51	-61.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,864	$0.31 ETB50.68	-89.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,259	$0.22 ETB36.18	-86.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,575	$0.49 ETB80.19	-57.8%
Average			-64.2%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.4% less for transportation

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,545	$3.53 ETB580.29	-36.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩63,112	$21.11 ETB3,471.64	-54.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩40M	$55,000.00 ETB9M	+87.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,604	$3.53 ETB579.70	-58.6%
Average			-22.4%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.9% less for housing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩28,392	$212.33 ETB34,919.24	+919.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$706.95 ETB116K	-20.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩846K	$394.55 ETB64,885.61	-36.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩222K	$156.76 ETB25,780.71	-3.6%
Average			-14.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 69.3% less for childcare

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$136.41 ETB22,433.26	-92.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩31M	$30,187.50 ETB5M	+33.6%
Average			-69.3%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 57.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩5,090	$0.80 ETB131.56	-78.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,593	$0.92 ETB151.12	-77.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,581	$8.00 ETB1,315.64	+138.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩79,399	$44.15 ETB7,259.90	-24.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩15,269	$3.75 ETB616.71	-66.5%
Average			-57.8%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.7% more for clothing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩78,937	$33.14 ETB5,449.91	-42.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩44,695	$70.86 ETB11,652.80	+116.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩95,451	$78.65 ETB12,934.01	+12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩112K	$82.70 ETB13,601.12	+0.3%
Average			+8.7%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - 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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