Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Surrey Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 26.6% cheaper than Surrey.

Restaurants: pay 45.1% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 79.0% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 22.8% less in Seoul
Housing: pay 55.4% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 15.8% less in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 10.5% less in Seoul

Expenses including housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, childcare, and clothing are lower in Seoul. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. Surrey Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of Surrey, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 45.1% less for restaurants

	Surrey	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$23.13 £17.35	$8.96 ₩11,955	-61.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.25 £6.94	$7.46 ₩9,962	-19.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.26 £1.70	$1.58 ₩2,112	-30.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.45 £1.09	$0.79 ₩1,049	-45.7%
Average			-45.1%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 79.0% more for groceries

	Surrey	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.07 £1.55	$3.10 ₩4,134	+49.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18 £3.14	$8.84 ₩11,798	+111.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.88 £3.66	$7.79 ₩10,403	+59.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.18 £3.13	$3.61 ₩4,813	-13.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.10 £3.07	$4.74 ₩6,328	+15.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 £1.05	$3.46 ₩4,624	+147.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 £0.49	$1.57 ₩2,091	+139.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 £0.67	$2.59 ₩3,462	+188.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 £1.11	$2.83 ₩3,782	+91.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 £0.48	$1.66 ₩2,211	+159.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 £0.62	$1.16 ₩1,542	+40.8%
Average			+79.0%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.8% less for transportation

	Surrey	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.14 £5.36	$5.53 ₩7,384	-22.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$46.28 ₩61,767
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,182.92 £28,648.64	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-23.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.51 ₩11,357
Average			-22.8%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.4% less for housing

	Surrey	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.02 £26.27	$20.82 ₩27,787	-40.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,894.06 £1,421.11	$886.39 ₩1M	-53.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,883.05 £1,412.85	$620.25 ₩828K	-67.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$202.10 £151.64	$162.69 ₩217K	-19.5%
Average			-55.4%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 15.8% less for childcare

	Surrey	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,114.30 £1,586.36	$1,927.59 ₩3M	-8.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$29,071.61 £21,812.43	$22,602.27 ₩30M	-22.3%
Average			-15.8%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Surrey	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.61 £4.96	$3.73 ₩4,981	-43.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.79 £3.59	$4.10 ₩5,473	-14.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.96 £17.23	$3.36 ₩4,483	-85.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.86 £39.66	$58.22 ₩77,707	+10.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.21 £9.91	$11.20 ₩14,944	-15.3%
Average			-29.9%

Surrey vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.5% less for clothing

	Surrey	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.86 £39.66	$57.88 ₩77,255	+9.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.64 £29.74	$32.77 ₩43,743	-17.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.10 £66.10	$69.99 ₩93,417	-20.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.50 £69.40	$82.45 ₩110K	-10.9%
Average			-10.5%

Surrey vs. Seoul - 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

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