Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Malta

Malta vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Malta is 18.6% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Malta
Groceries: pay 36.8% less in Malta
Transportation: pay 8.4% more in Malta
Housing: pay 76.1% more in Malta
Childcare: pay 43.7% less in Malta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.4% more in Malta
Clothing: pay 4.6% more in Malta

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

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Malta vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	South Korea	Malta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,422	$17.59 €15.66	+149.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,230	$11.93 €10.62	+93.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,039	$2.30 €2.05	+50.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,181	$1.63 €1.45	+84.7%
Average			+110.5%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.8% less for groceries

	South Korea	Malta
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,055	$1.27 €1.13	-58.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,174	$4.61 €4.10	-24.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,982	$4.97 €4.42	-39.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,923	$3.68 €3.28	+25.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,484	$4.47 €3.98	+8.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,342	$1.53 €1.36	-61.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,069	$1.12 €1.00	-27.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩4,000	$1.43 €1.27	-52.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,513	$1.43 €1.28	-45.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,715	$0.90 €0.80	-55.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,685	$0.98 €0.87	-22.7%
Average			-36.8%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.4% more for transportation

	South Korea	Malta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,685	$5.68 €5.06	+13.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,538	$33.91 €30.18	-26.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$30,620.29 €27,253.16	+7.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,470	$21.36 €19.01	+148.6%
Average			+8.4%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.1% more for housing

	South Korea	Malta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,490	$32.05 €28.52	+31.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩750K	$1,159.66 €1,032.14	+106.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩518K	$956.81 €851.60	+146.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$79.40 €70.66	-48.4%
Average			+76.1%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of housing

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pay 43.7% less for childcare

	South Korea	Malta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩729K	$319.34 €284.22	-41.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$10,947.32 €9,743.51	-45.8%
Average			-43.7%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.4% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Malta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,403	$3.82 €3.40	+15.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,888	$2.66 €2.36	-27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,467	$6.40 €5.69	+91.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,507	$65.65 €58.43	+14.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,062	$10.37 €9.23	-8.1%
Average			+4.4%

South Korea vs. Malta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.6% more for clothing

	South Korea	Malta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,139	$72.72 €64.73	+7.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,316	$49.01 €43.62	-8.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$95.91 €85.36	+22.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$101.59 €90.42	-1.2%
Average			+4.6%

South Korea vs. Malta - 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. Malta

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

Make 32.2% more money in Malta

Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 316 times bigger than Malta.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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