Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 33.4% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 15.1% more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 64.7% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 26.5% less in Chisinau
Housing: pay 23.0% less in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 75.9% less in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.8% less in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 45.9% more in Chisinau

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

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Chisinau vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.1% more for restaurants

	Seoul	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩11,943	$11.22 MDL200.58	+25.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,953	$8.70 MDL155.45	+16.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,110	$1.21 MDL21.60	-23.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,048	$0.89 MDL15.92	+13.3%
Average			+15.1%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 64.7% less for groceries

	Seoul	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,130	$0.71 MDL12.71	-77.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩11,786	$4.89 MDL87.39	-44.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,392	$4.73 MDL84.61	-39.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,808	$2.79 MDL49.81	-22.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,322	$2.36 MDL42.13	-50.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,619	$0.44 MDL7.83	-87.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,089	$0.87 MDL15.60	-44.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,458	$0.94 MDL16.79	-63.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,778	$1.01 MDL17.97	-64.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,209	$0.31 MDL5.58	-81.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,540	$0.25 MDL4.40	-78.7%
Average			-64.7%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.5% less for transportation

	Seoul	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,377	$6.44 MDL115.06	+16.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩61,706	$13.52 MDL241.70	-70.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩39M	$29,507.41 MDL528K	+0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,346	$4.94 MDL88.26	-42.0%
Average			-26.5%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.0% less for housing

	Seoul	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩27,759	$10.59 MDL189.39	-49.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	-23.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩827K	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	-29.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩217K	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	+14.2%
Average			-23.0%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 75.9% less for childcare

	Seoul	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	-77.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩30M	$5,841.67 MDL104K	-74.2%
Average			-75.9%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,976	$2.24 MDL40.12	-39.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,468	$2.16 MDL38.67	-47.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,479	$3.42 MDL61.18	+1.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩77,630	$41.67 MDL745.01	-28.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,929	$8.41 MDL150.43	-24.8%
Average			-31.8%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.9% more for clothing

	Seoul	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩77,178	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	+37.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩43,700	$47.07 MDL841.43	+43.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩93,325	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	+63.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩110K	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	+40.2%
Average			+45.9%

Seoul vs. Chisinau - 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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