Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

United Kingdom

United Kingdom vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

United Kingdom is 50.6% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in United Kingdom
Groceries: pay 41.1% less in United Kingdom
Transportation: pay 68.5% more in United Kingdom
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in United Kingdom
Childcare: pay 82.1% more in United Kingdom
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.3% more in United Kingdom
Clothing: pay 5.5% more in United Kingdom

The cost of housing, restaurants, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in United Kingdom are more expensive than in South Korea. Notably, housing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in United Kingdom.

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United Kingdom vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Kingdom instead of South Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,426	$21.32 £16.13	+202.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,234	$10.25 £7.76	+66.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,040	$2.54 £1.92	+66.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,182	$1.79 £1.36	+102.6%
Average			+121.8%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.1% less for groceries

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,057	$1.67 £1.27	-44.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,178	$4.62 £3.50	-24.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,987	$6.01 £4.55	-26.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,925	$3.96 £3.00	+34.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,487	$3.93 £2.98	-4.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,344	$1.32 £1.00	-67.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,070	$0.73 £0.55	-53.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩4,001	$1.21 £0.91	-59.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,515	$1.51 £1.14	-42.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,716	$0.76 £0.58	-62.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,686	$0.72 £0.54	-43.1%
Average			-41.1%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of groceries

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pay 68.5% more for transportation

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,687	$7.59 £5.74	+51.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,565	$99.20 £75.08	+115.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$37,629.43 £28,479.08	+32.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,475	$23.43 £17.73	+172.7%
Average			+68.5%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,505	$41.42 £31.35	+70.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩750K	$1,299.59 £983.57	+131.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩518K	$1,069.01 £809.06	+175.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$239.96 £181.61	+56.1%
Average			+130.4%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of housing

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pay 82.1% more for childcare

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩729K	$1,589.10 £1,202.68	+191.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$23,025.39 £17,426.31	+13.9%
Average			+82.1%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.3% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,405	$6.50 £4.92	+97.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,891	$4.66 £3.53	+27.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,469	$22.34 £16.91	+567.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,541	$49.72 £37.63	-13.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,069	$14.11 £10.68	+25.0%
Average			+48.3%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% more for clothing

	South Korea	United Kingdom
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,178	$85.37 £64.61	+26.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,347	$44.93 £34.01	-15.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$95.35 £72.16	+22.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$98.21 £74.33	-4.5%
Average			+5.5%

South Korea vs. United Kingdom - 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. United Kingdom

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in United Kingdom?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 77.2% more likely to be unemployed in United Kingdom

Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 2.4 times smaller than United Kingdom.

Moving from South Korea to United Kingdom · OECD 2015

2,000 people moved from South Korea to United Kingdom.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Seoul vs London

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