Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Guatemala

Guatemala vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Guatemala is 15.4% cheaper than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.6% more in Guatemala
Groceries: pay 42.1% less in Guatemala
Transportation: pay 30.5% less in Guatemala
Housing: pay 17.0% more in Guatemala
Childcare: pay 54.6% less in Guatemala
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.5% less in Guatemala
Clothing: pay 6.2% less in Guatemala

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

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Guatemala vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Guatemala instead of South Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.6% more for restaurants

	South Korea	Guatemala
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,422	$6.81 GTQ52.10	-3.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,230	$7.86 GTQ60.11	+27.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,039	$1.13 GTQ8.62	-26.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,181	$0.95 GTQ7.27	+7.3%
Average			+4.6%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.1% less for groceries

	South Korea	Guatemala
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,055	$3.06 GTQ23.38	+0.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,174	$2.94 GTQ22.53	-51.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,982	$7.79 GTQ59.62	-5.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,923	$2.46 GTQ18.82	-16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,484	$4.27 GTQ32.69	+4.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,342	$1.77 GTQ13.56	-55.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,069	$0.76 GTQ5.83	-50.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩4,000	$1.29 GTQ9.90	-56.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,513	$0.73 GTQ5.62	-72.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,715	$0.69 GTQ5.25	-66.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,685	$0.88 GTQ6.75	-30.1%
Average			-42.1%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.5% less for transportation

	South Korea	Guatemala
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,685	$5.04 GTQ38.56	+0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,538	$14.23 GTQ108.90	-69.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$25,199.77 GTQ193K	-11.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,470	??
Average			-30.5%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.0% more for housing

	South Korea	Guatemala
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,490	$46.14 GTQ353.04	+89.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩750K	$851.18 GTQ6,513.21	+51.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩518K	$533.61 GTQ4,083.17	+37.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$49.82 GTQ381.19	-67.6%
Average			+17.0%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of housing

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pay 54.6% less for childcare

	South Korea	Guatemala
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩729K	$340.40 GTQ2,604.78	-37.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$6,685.90 GTQ51,160.52	-66.9%
Average			-54.6%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.5% less for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Guatemala
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,403	$3.27 GTQ25.05	-0.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,888	$3.34 GTQ25.59	-8.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,467	$3.99 GTQ30.56	+19.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,507	$40.26 GTQ308.05	-29.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,062	$6.48 GTQ49.59	-42.6%
Average			-20.5%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.2% less for clothing

	South Korea	Guatemala
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,139	$46.92 GTQ359.05	-30.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,316	$47.46 GTQ363.17	-11.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$104.97 GTQ803.21	+34.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$95.86 GTQ733.50	-6.8%
Average			-6.2%

South Korea vs. Guatemala - 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: South Korea vs. Guatemala

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Guatemala?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 81.8% less money in Guatemala

Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is around the same size as Guatemala.

Moving from South Korea to Guatemala · UN DESA 2020

1,921 people born in South Korea live in Guatemala.

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