Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 0.5% cheaper than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.0% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 23.9% less in Japan
Transportation: pay 53.6% more in Japan
Housing: pay 14.9% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 17.1% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.6% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 26.5% less in Japan

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

Japan vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.0% less for restaurants

	South Korea	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.72 ₩10,205	$6.60 ¥1,058	-1.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ₩8,346	$5.10 ¥817	-7.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 ₩2,226	$1.07 ¥171	-27.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 ₩1,252	$0.76 ¥122	-7.8%
Average			-11.0%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.9% less for groceries

	South Korea	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.87 ₩4,363	$1.50 ¥241	-47.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.63 ₩8,540	$5.07 ¥812	-9.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 ₩11,652	$5.67 ¥908	-26.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.84 ₩4,306	$2.08 ¥333	-26.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.34 ₩5,065	$2.93 ¥469	-12.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 ₩4,912	$2.14 ¥342	-34.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩2,107	$1.12 ¥179	-19.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.80 ₩4,246	$1.69 ¥271	-39.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.40 ₩3,650	$2.13 ¥341	-11.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 ₩2,706	$1.22 ¥195	-31.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 ₩1,828	$1.15 ¥185	-4.2%
Average			-23.9%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.6% more for transportation

	South Korea	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.40 ₩6,681	$4.39 ¥703	-0.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.17 ₩71,620	$59.14 ¥9,478	+25.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,440.41 ₩40M	$22,599.51 ¥4M	-14.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.33 ₩12,650	$25.32 ¥4,058	+203.9%
Average			+53.6%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.9% more for housing

	South Korea	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.68 ₩32,921	$33.91 ¥5,434	+56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$473.91 ₩719K	$543.18 ¥87,041	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$357.19 ₩542K	$353.61 ¥56,664	-1.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.53 ₩201K	$118.72 ¥19,023	-10.4%
Average			+14.9%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 17.1% less for childcare

	South Korea	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$378.52 ₩575K	$296.89 ¥47,574	-21.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,055.40 ₩23M	$13,159.48 ¥2M	-12.6%
Average			-17.1%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.6% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 ₩4,734	$2.60 ¥417	-16.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 ₩5,417	$3.03 ¥485	-15.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,834	$3.89 ¥623	+22.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.86 ₩75,699	$59.54 ¥9,541	+19.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.12 ₩15,362	$12.46 ¥1,997	+23.2%
Average			+6.6%

South Korea vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.5% less for clothing

	South Korea	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.46 ₩101K	$44.79 ¥7,178	-32.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.68 ₩76,949	$32.04 ¥5,134	-36.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.74 ₩110K	$57.37 ¥9,193	-21.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.23 ₩157K	$87.37 ¥14,001	-15.4%
Average			-26.5%

South Korea vs. Japan - 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: June 2026

Compare further: South Korea vs. Japan

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Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 3.8 times smaller than Japan.

Moving from South Korea to Japan · OECD 2023

27,566 people moved from South Korea to Japan.

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