Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Male is 19.0% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 16.6% less in Male
Groceries: pay 37.3% less in Male
Transportation: pay 12.2% less in Male
Housing: pay 5.3% more in Male
Childcare: pay 88.7% less in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.6% more in Male
Clothing: pay 4.8% less in Male

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

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Male vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.6% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩11,943	$6.00 MVR92.74	-33.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,953	$9.73 MVR150.39	+30.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,110	$1.63 MVR25.12	+2.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,048	$0.30 MVR4.59	-62.2%
Average			-16.6%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.3% less for groceries

	Seoul	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,130	$1.65 MVR25.57	-46.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩11,786	$5.34 MVR82.43	-39.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,392	$7.69 MVR118.80	-1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,808	$1.92 MVR29.70	-46.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,322	$2.77 MVR42.73	-41.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,619	$1.80 MVR27.83	-48.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,089	$1.39 MVR21.40	-11.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,458	$1.85 MVR28.65	-28.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,778	$1.22 MVR18.84	-57.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,209	$0.93 MVR14.40	-43.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,540	$0.86 MVR13.30	-25.5%
Average			-37.3%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.2% less for transportation

	Seoul	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,377	$3.81 MVR58.81	-31.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩61,706	$30.82 MVR476.23	-33.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩39M	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+10.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,346	$17.52 MVR270.70	+105.9%
Average			-12.2%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.3% more for housing

	Seoul	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩27,759	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+250.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$951.14 MVR14,695.19	+7.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩827K	$699.92 MVR10,813.71	+12.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩217K	$90.98 MVR1,405.60	-44.1%
Average			+5.3%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 88.7% less for childcare

	Seoul	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$184.98 MVR2,857.90	-90.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩30M	$3,004.83 MVR46,424.59	-86.7%
Average			-88.7%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,976	$4.87 MVR75.19	+30.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,468	$3.55 MVR54.84	-13.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,479	$14.93 MVR230.60	+344.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩77,630	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+21.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,929	$9.73 MVR150.39	-13.1%
Average			+20.6%

Seoul vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.8% less for clothing

	Seoul	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩77,178	$39.51 MVR610.48	-31.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩43,700	$49.64 MVR766.88	+51.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩93,325	$87.13 MVR1,346.11	+24.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩110K	$52.52 MVR811.39	-36.3%
Average			-4.8%

Seoul vs. Male - 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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