Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Maldives

Maldives vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 3.7% cheaper than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.2% less in Maldives
Groceries: pay 42.7% less in Maldives
Transportation: pay 8.2% less in Maldives
Housing: pay 60.3% more in Maldives
Childcare: pay 77.6% less in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.9% more in Maldives
Clothing: pay 25.4% less in Maldives

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

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Maldives vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2% less for restaurants

	South Korea	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,413	$6.00 MVR92.74	-15.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,222	$9.57 MVR147.88	+55.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,037	$1.63 MVR25.12	+6.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,180	$0.30 MVR4.59	-66.4%
Average			-2.2%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.7% less for groceries

	South Korea	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,051	$1.65 MVR25.57	-45.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,166	$3.48 MVR53.75	-43.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,971	$6.83 MVR105.52	-17.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,919	$1.87 MVR28.89	-36.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,479	$2.76 MVR42.72	-32.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,336	$1.80 MVR27.83	-55.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,067	$1.39 MVR21.40	-10.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩3,996	$1.59 MVR24.56	-47.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,510	$1.22 MVR18.83	-53.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,713	$0.75 MVR11.63	-63.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,683	$0.69 MVR10.63	-45.5%
Average			-42.7%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.2% less for transportation

	South Korea	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,678	$3.81 MVR58.81	-24.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,477	$30.82 MVR476.23	-33.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+14.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,459	$17.52 MVR270.70	+103.9%
Average			-8.2%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

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pay 60.3% more for housing

	South Korea	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,458	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+199.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩749K	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	+85.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩517K	$739.32 MVR11,422.43	+90.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	-44.6%
Average			+60.3%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

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pay 77.6% less for childcare

	South Korea	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩728K	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	-66.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	-85.1%
Average			-77.6%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.9% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,398	$4.87 MVR75.19	+47.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,884	$3.55 MVR54.82	-3.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,463	$13.95 MVR215.56	+316.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,432	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+23.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,047	$9.73 MVR150.39	-13.7%
Average			+25.9%

South Korea vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

	South Korea	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,049	$39.51 MVR610.41	-41.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,245	$49.63 MVR766.77	-7.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	+11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$52.50 MVR811.17	-48.9%
Average			-25.4%

South Korea vs. Maldives - 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

Compare further: South Korea vs. Maldives

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 68.3% more likely to be unemployed in Maldives

Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 335 times bigger than Maldives.

Moving from South Korea to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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