Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Hong Kong

Hong Kong vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Hong Kong is 77.2% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.3% more in Hong Kong
Groceries: pay 9.1% less in Hong Kong
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Hong Kong
Housing: pay 3.2 times more in Hong Kong
Childcare: pay 53.9% more in Hong Kong
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.6% more in Hong Kong
Clothing: pay 1.9% less in Hong Kong

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

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Hong Kong vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Hong Kong instead of South Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.3% more for restaurants

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,422	$8.28 HK$65.00	+17.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,230	$6.37 HK$50.00	+3.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,039	$1.30 HK$10.24	-14.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,181	$1.09 HK$8.59	+23.7%
Average			+9.3%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.1% less for groceries

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,055	$2.37 HK$18.59	-22.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,174	$12.52 HK$98.23	+104.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,982	$11.07 HK$86.91	+34.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,923	$3.47 HK$27.20	+17.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,484	$3.96 HK$31.06	-3.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,342	$1.87 HK$14.70	-53.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,069	$1.25 HK$9.78	-19.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩4,000	$2.09 HK$16.41	-30.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,513	$1.80 HK$14.11	-31.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,715	$1.43 HK$11.25	-29.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,685	$1.44 HK$11.31	+14.2%
Average			-9.1%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,685	$15.51 HK$121.73	+209.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,538	$89.19 HK$700.01	+93.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$44,597.12 HK$350K	+57.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,470	$14.40 HK$113.00	+67.6%
Average			+111.2%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.2 times more for housing

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,490	$21.52 HK$168.90	-11.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩750K	$2,207.41 HK$17,324.05	+293.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩518K	$1,690.00 HK$13,263.34	+335.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$190.59 HK$1,495.82	+24.0%
Average			+219.7%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of housing

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pay 53.9% more for childcare

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩729K	$1,171.99 HK$9,197.98	+114.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$22,295.74 HK$175K	+10.3%
Average			+53.9%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.6% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,403	$7.65 HK$60.00	+131.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,888	$5.04 HK$39.56	+37.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,467	$13.38 HK$105.00	+299.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,507	$93.07 HK$730.44	+62.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,062	$13.70 HK$107.50	+21.4%
Average			+71.6%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.9% less for clothing

	South Korea	Hong Kong
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,139	$67.63 HK$530.78	+0.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,316	$41.11 HK$322.62	-23.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$80.54 HK$632.08	+3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$119.85 HK$940.64	+16.5%
Average			-1.9%

South Korea vs. Hong Kong - 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. Hong Kong

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Hong Kong?

Quality of Life Comparison · 10 statistics

Make 57.3% more money in Hong Kong

Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 90 times bigger than Hong Kong.

Moving from South Korea to Hong Kong · UN DESA 2020

5,042 people born in South Korea live in Hong Kong.

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