Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 5.0 times more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 73.5% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in South Korea
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 21.7 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 97.8% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in South Korea

The cost of childcare, groceries, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in South Korea are more expensive than in Sri Lanka. Notably, childcare, groceries, and clothing are significantly more expensive in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Sri Lanka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.5% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	$6.72 ₩9,865	+84.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	$5.50 ₩8,068	-30.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 LKR224.32	$1.47 ₩2,152	+100.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 LKR106.15	$0.82 ₩1,211	+138.8%
Average			+73.5%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.48 LKR147.07	$2.87 ₩4,217	+500.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	$5.63 ₩8,255	-1.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	$7.67 ₩11,264	+27.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 LKR597.37	$2.84 ₩4,162	+45.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 LKR629.94	$3.34 ₩4,896	+62.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.40 LKR736.93	$3.24 ₩4,748	+34.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.44 LKR136.48	$1.39 ₩2,037	+212.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.17 LKR665.91	$2.80 ₩4,104	+29.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR168.43	$2.40 ₩3,528	+338.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR139.78	$1.78 ₩2,616	+291.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR155.98	$1.20 ₩1,767	+137.2%
Average			+152.6%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	$4.40 ₩6,458	+6.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.74 LKR3,299.78	$47.17 ₩69,233	+339.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30	$26,440.41 ₩38,804,738	+7.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.00 LKR921.91	$8.33 ₩12,228	+177.7%
Average			+132.8%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	$21.68 ₩31,824	+68.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	$473.91 ₩695,518	+63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	$357.19 ₩524,216	+100.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.64 LKR9,722.89	$132.53 ₩194,509	+318.9%
Average			+138.0%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 21.7 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	$378.52 ₩555,533	+1017.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$466.09 LKR143,227.52	$15,055.40 ₩22,095,763	+3130.2%
Average			+2073.9%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 97.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.08 LKR639.65	$3.12 ₩4,576	+49.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.39 LKR735.74	$3.57 ₩5,236	+49.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	$3.18 ₩4,673	-65.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	$49.86 ₩73,176	+231.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.12 LKR959.48	$10.12 ₩14,850	+224.1%
Average			+97.8%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.05 LKR7,697.80	$66.46 ₩97,538	+165.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.03 LKR5,232.27	$50.68 ₩74,384	+197.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.69 LKR19,264.32	$72.74 ₩106,755	+16.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	$103.23 ₩151,509	+194.4%
Average			+143.3%

Sri Lanka vs. South Korea - 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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