Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

New Zealand

New Zealand vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 20.4% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.8% more in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 35.6% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 28.5% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 64.3% more in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 4.9% more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.2% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 6.4% less in New Zealand

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

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New Zealand vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of South Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 67.8% more for restaurants

	South Korea	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,422	$13.26 NZ$23.46	+87.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,230	$8.99 NZ$15.90	+45.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,039	$2.04 NZ$3.61	+33.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,181	$1.83 NZ$3.24	+107.0%
Average			+67.8%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.6% less for groceries

	South Korea	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,055	$1.73 NZ$3.05	-43.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,174	$3.78 NZ$6.69	-38.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,982	$6.47 NZ$11.45	-21.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,923	$5.79 NZ$10.24	+97.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,484	$3.83 NZ$6.77	-6.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,342	$1.22 NZ$2.15	-69.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,069	$0.94 NZ$1.67	-39.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩4,000	$1.32 NZ$2.33	-56.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,513	$2.20 NZ$3.89	-16.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,715	$0.89 NZ$1.57	-56.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,685	$0.67 NZ$1.18	-47.3%
Average			-35.6%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.5% more for transportation

	South Korea	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,685	$6.34 NZ$11.21	+26.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,538	$83.43 NZ$147.53	+81.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	-15.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,470	$17.20 NZ$30.41	+100.1%
Average			+28.5%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.3% more for housing

	South Korea	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,490	$49.30 NZ$87.18	+102.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩750K	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	+73.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩518K	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02	+117.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$95.64 NZ$169.12	-37.8%
Average			+64.3%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 4.9% more for childcare

	South Korea	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩729K	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	+31.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	-16.2%
Average			+4.9%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.2% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,403	$5.70 NZ$10.07	+72.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,888	$3.26 NZ$5.77	-11.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,467	$22.75 NZ$40.22	+579.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,507	$39.17 NZ$69.26	-31.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,062	$10.27 NZ$18.16	-9.0%
Average			+17.2%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% less for clothing

	South Korea	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,139	$63.30 NZ$111.94	-6.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,316	$33.63 NZ$59.46	-37.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$91.48 NZ$161.76	+17.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$114.46 NZ$202.41	+11.3%
Average			-6.4%

South Korea vs. New Zealand - 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. New Zealand

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Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 2.7 times smaller than New Zealand.

Moving from South Korea to New Zealand · OECD 2023

2,061 people moved from South Korea to New Zealand.

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