Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Taipei Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 22.1% more expensive than Taipei.

Restaurants: pay 58.4% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 21.1% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 13.4% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 18.3% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 98.6% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 16.5% less in Seoul

The cost of childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, and transportation in Seoul are more expensive than in Taipei. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. Taipei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 58.4% more for restaurants

	Taipei	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.71 NT$152.81	$8.96 ₩11,955	+90.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.65 NT$183.37	$7.46 ₩9,962	+32.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 NT$29.80	$1.58 ₩2,112	+72.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NT$21.18	$0.79 ₩1,049	+20.5%
Average			+58.4%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.1% more for groceries

	Taipei	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.02 NT$65.64	$3.10 ₩4,134	+53.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.85 NT$319.53	$8.84 ₩11,798	-10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.54 NT$374.58	$7.79 ₩10,403	-32.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.72 NT$88.34	$3.61 ₩4,813	+32.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.45 NT$144.40	$4.74 ₩6,328	+6.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.23 NT$72.36	$3.46 ₩4,624	+55.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.51 NT$48.90	$1.57 ₩2,091	+4.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.38 NT$44.91	$2.59 ₩3,462	+87.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 NT$65.53	$2.83 ₩3,782	+40.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 NT$40.46	$1.66 ₩2,211	+32.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.04 NT$33.78	$1.16 ₩1,542	+11.0%
Average			+21.1%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.4% more for transportation

	Taipei	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.94 NT$127.95	$5.53 ₩7,384	+40.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.67 NT$1,222.44	$46.28 ₩61,767	+22.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,523.97 NT$1M	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-12.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.95 NT$290.33	$8.51 ₩11,357	-4.9%
Average			+13.4%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.3% more for housing

	Taipei	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.40 NT$889.19	$20.82 ₩27,787	-24.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,012.31 NT$32,853.13	$886.39 ₩1M	-12.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$482.92 NT$15,672.34	$620.25 ₩828K	+28.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$66.27 NT$2,150.71	$162.69 ₩217K	+145.5%
Average			+18.3%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 98.6% more for childcare

	Taipei	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$662.67 NT$21,505.93	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+190.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,675.66 NT$541K	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+35.5%
Average			+98.6%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Taipei	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.83 NT$91.68	$3.73 ₩4,981	+32.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.42 NT$111.13	$4.10 ₩5,473	+19.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 NT$127.34	$3.36 ₩4,483	-14.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.15 NT$1,335.37	$58.22 ₩77,707	+41.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 NT$315.80	$11.20 ₩14,944	+15.1%
Average			+21.9%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.5% less for clothing

	Taipei	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$63.18 NT$2,050.48	$57.88 ₩77,255	-8.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.99 NT$1,297.67	$32.77 ₩43,743	-18.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.98 NT$2,757.77	$69.99 ₩93,417	-17.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.09 NT$3,410.39	$82.45 ₩110K	-21.5%
Average			-16.5%

Taipei 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

Compare further: Taipei vs. Seoul

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Size Comparison · See true size

Taipei is about 2.2 times smaller than Seoul.

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