Cost of living comparison

compared to

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 50.3% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.4% more in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 11.1% less in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 32.3% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 4.0 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 3.3% less in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.0% more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 20.4% less in Papua New Guinea

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

Papua New Guinea vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.4% more for restaurants

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.72 ₩9,907	$17.87 PGK75.83	+165.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ₩8,102	$5.92 PGK25.13	+7.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 ₩2,161	$0.80 PGK3.41	-45.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 ₩1,216	$0.70 PGK2.99	-14.6%
Average			+28.4%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.1% less for groceries

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.87 ₩4,235	$1.55 PGK6.59	-45.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.63 ₩8,290	$3.60 PGK15.29	-35.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 ₩11,311	$7.76 PGK32.93	+1.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.84 ₩4,180	$4.00 PGK16.99	+41.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.34 ₩4,917	$3.63 PGK15.41	+8.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 ₩4,768	$1.99 PGK8.44	-38.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩2,045	$1.32 PGK5.61	-4.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.80 ₩4,121	$2.73 PGK11.60	-2.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.40 ₩3,543	$1.62 PGK6.89	-32.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 ₩2,627	$1.58 PGK6.71	-11.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 ₩1,775	$1.18 PGK5.01	-1.9%
Average			-11.1%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.3% more for transportation

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.40 ₩6,485	$4.22 PGK17.89	-4.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.17 ₩69,524	$23.69 PGK100.53	-49.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	$22,387.96 PGK94,999.61	-15.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.33 ₩12,280	$24.88 PGK105.56	+198.6%
Average			+32.3%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.0 times more for housing

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.68 ₩31,958	$165.84 PGK703.70	+664.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$473.91 ₩698,442	$2,652.44 PGK11,255.17	+459.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$357.19 ₩526,420	$758.54 PGK3,218.75	+112.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.53 ₩195,326	$80.08 PGK339.79	-39.6%
Average			+299.3%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3% less for childcare

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$378.52 ₩557,869	$631.76 PGK2,680.77	+66.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	$3,968.24 PGK16,838.56	-73.6%
Average			-3.3%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.0% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 ₩4,595	$2.98 PGK12.63	-4.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 ₩5,258	$2.56 PGK10.85	-28.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,693	$6.96 PGK29.52	+118.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.86 ₩73,483	$73.52 PGK311.97	+47.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.12 ₩14,912	$10.30 PGK43.71	+1.8%
Average			+27.0%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.4% less for clothing

	South Korea	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.46 ₩97,948	$31.15 PGK132.20	-53.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.68 ₩74,697	$36.48 PGK154.81	-28.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.74 ₩107,204	$76.40 PGK324.21	+5.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.23 ₩152,146	$97.73 PGK414.68	-5.3%
Average			-20.4%

South Korea vs. Papua New Guinea - 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: December 2025

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