Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 25.6% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 43.6% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 58.8% less in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 13.4% less in Bucharest
Housing: pay 25.2% less in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 54.5% less in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.6% less in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 22.1% more in Bucharest

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

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Bucharest vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.6% more for restaurants

	Seoul	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩11,955	$14.64 RON69.25	+63.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,962	$7.32 RON34.63	-1.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,112	$2.42 RON11.44	+52.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,049	$2.25 RON10.65	+186.5%
Average			+43.6%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 58.8% less for groceries

	Seoul	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,134	$1.32 RON6.24	-57.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩11,798	$4.36 RON20.63	-50.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,403	$6.22 RON29.40	-20.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,813	$3.67 RON17.35	+1.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,328	$3.05 RON14.45	-35.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,624	$0.57 RON2.70	-83.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,091	$0.72 RON3.43	-53.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,462	$0.69 RON3.25	-73.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,782	$1.15 RON5.42	-59.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,211	$0.36 RON1.73	-78.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,542	$0.34 RON1.62	-70.4%
Average			-58.8%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.4% less for transportation

	Seoul	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,384	$7.45 RON35.25	+34.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩61,767	$20.91 RON98.93	-54.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩39M	$28,531.98 RON135K	-2.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,357	$5.65 RON26.71	-33.6%
Average			-13.4%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.2% less for housing

	Seoul	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩27,787	$9.27 RON43.83	-55.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$677.15 RON3,203.34	-23.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩828K	$451.32 RON2,135.02	-27.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩217K	$147.83 RON699.33	-9.1%
Average			-25.2%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 54.5% less for childcare

	Seoul	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$627.11 RON2,966.59	-67.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩30M	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	-36.4%
Average			-54.5%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,981	$3.76 RON17.81	+0.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,473	$3.51 RON16.59	-14.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,483	$6.43 RON30.42	+91.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩77,707	$49.22 RON232.83	-15.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,944	$8.37 RON39.57	-25.3%
Average			-7.6%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.1% more for clothing

	Seoul	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩77,255	$88.76 RON419.90	+53.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩43,743	$38.43 RON181.80	+17.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩93,417	$77.83 RON368.20	+11.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩110K	$91.69 RON433.74	+11.2%
Average			+22.1%

Seoul vs. Bucharest - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Seoul vs. Bucharest

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Size Comparison · See true size

Seoul is about 2.7 times bigger than Bucharest.

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