Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Spain Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 8.4% cheaper than Spain overall.

Restaurants: pay 49.6% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 72.6% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 11.5% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 33.7% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 59.3% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.6% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 0.5% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Spain Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 49.6% less for restaurants

	Spain	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €14.31	$7.06 ₩9,422	-56.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.79 €9.61	$6.17 ₩8,230	-42.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.54 €2.26	$1.53 ₩2,039	-39.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 €1.57	$0.88 ₩1,181	-49.8%
Average			-49.6%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 72.6% more for groceries

	Spain	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 €1.33	$3.04 ₩4,055	+103.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.20 €6.40	$6.12 ₩8,174	-14.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.49 €4.00	$8.23 ₩10,982	+83.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.29 €2.93	$2.94 ₩3,923	-10.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.74 €3.33	$4.11 ₩5,484	+9.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.03	$4.00 ₩5,342	+244.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.83	$1.55 ₩2,069	+66.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.85	$3.00 ₩4,000	+212.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 €1.10	$2.63 ₩3,513	+112.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 €0.75	$2.03 ₩2,715	+142.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.79	$1.26 ₩1,685	+41.5%
Average			+72.6%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.5% less for transportation

	Spain	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.62 €5.89	$5.01 ₩6,685	-24.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.07 €27.66	$46.10 ₩61,538	+48.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,519.36 €30,723.47	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-17.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.43 €14.62	$8.59 ₩11,470	-47.7%
Average			-11.5%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.7% less for housing

	Spain	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.92 €26.63	$24.34 ₩32,490	-18.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$925.54 €823.76	$561.73 ₩750K	-39.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$728.71 €648.57	$387.83 ₩518K	-46.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.11 €97.11	$153.72 ₩205K	+40.9%
Average			-33.7%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 59.3% more for childcare

	Spain	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$480.60 €427.75	$545.93 ₩729K	+13.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,049.60 €8,054.47	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+123.4%
Average			+59.3%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Spain	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.31 €2.94	$3.30 ₩4,403	-0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.30 €2.04	$3.66 ₩4,888	+59.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.23 €5.54	$3.35 ₩4,467	-46.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.01 €41.84	$57.32 ₩76,507	+21.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.34 €8.32	$11.28 ₩15,062	+20.8%
Average			+13.6%

Spain vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.5% more for clothing

	Spain	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$80.62 €71.76	$67.53 ₩90,139	-16.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.25 €32.27	$53.43 ₩71,316	+47.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.09 €80.18	$78.10 ₩104K	-13.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.00 €96.12	$102.84 ₩137K	-4.8%
Average			+0.5%

Spain vs. South Korea - 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: Spain vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Spain is about 5 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Spain to South Korea · OECD 2023

630 people moved from Spain to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Madrid vs Seoul

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