Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kathmandu vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Kathmandu is 53.6% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 55.9% less in Kathmandu
Groceries: pay 69.0% less in Kathmandu
Transportation: pay 5.0% less in Kathmandu
Housing: pay 75.9% less in Kathmandu
Childcare: pay 81.8% less in Kathmandu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.2% less in Kathmandu
Clothing: pay 43.5% less in Kathmandu

Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.9% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.49 ₩12,514	$1.76 NPR253.46	-79.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.30 ₩9,281	$6.34 NPR912.47	+0.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ₩2,415	$0.54 NPR77.98	-66.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ₩1,151	$0.17 NPR24.49	-78.2%
Average			-55.9%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 69.0% less for groceries

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Bread 1 loaf	$3.24 ₩4,772	$0.55 NPR78.90	-83.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.79 ₩10,011	$4.49 NPR646.60	-33.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.85 ₩11,566	$3.16 NPR454.05	-59.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.93 ₩4,321	$1.77 NPR254.29	-39.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 ₩6,880	$1.40 NPR201.73	-70.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.45 ₩5,078	$0.97 NPR140.05	-71.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.52 ₩2,246	$0.45 NPR65.18	-70.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.35 ₩3,466	$0.54 NPR78.09	-76.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.77 ₩4,086	$0.30 NPR43.25	-89.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 ₩2,386	$0.22 NPR31.46	-86.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 ₩1,912	$0.29 NPR41.94	-77.5%
Average			-69.0%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.0% less for transportation

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.43 ₩6,530	$4.57 NPR657.39	+3.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.99 ₩67,782	$10.57 NPR1,520.79	-77.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,072.36 ₩36,951,647	$31,715.30 NPR4,562,356.92	+26.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.50 ₩15,475	$13.39 NPR1,926.33	+27.5%
Average			-5.0%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.9% less for housing

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.56 ₩30,296	$8.25 NPR1,186.67	-59.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$925.55 ₩1,364,083	$179.99 NPR25,891.48	-80.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$559.33 ₩824,340	$93.92 NPR13,510.75	-83.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.88 ₩175,208	$23.92 NPR3,440.40	-79.9%
Average			-75.9%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of housing

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pay 81.8% less for childcare

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$360.15 ₩530,786	$80.28 NPR11,549.15	-77.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,667.04 ₩31,932,878	$3,085.67 NPR443,885.07	-85.8%
Average			-81.8%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.54 ₩5,214	$2.61 NPR375.13	-26.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 ₩5,450	$1.78 NPR256.66	-51.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,693	$2.82 NPR405.54	-11.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$56.34 ₩83,028	$21.82 NPR3,139.06	-61.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.61 ₩15,642	$3.17 NPR456.24	-70.1%
Average			-44.2%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.5% less for clothing

	Seoul	Kathmandu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.77 ₩73,344	$22.91 NPR3,295.04	-54.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.49 ₩58,201	$26.63 NPR3,830.13	-32.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.94 ₩110,450	$56.89 NPR8,183.28	-24.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.06 ₩145,992	$36.56 NPR5,259.38	-63.1%
Average			-43.5%

Seoul vs. Kathmandu - 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: December 2025

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