Cost of living comparison

compared to

Seoul vs. Taipei Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 7.5% more expensive than Taipei.

Restaurants: pay 23.0% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 22.8% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 3.5% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 21.5% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 10.7% less in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.6% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 11.5% less in Seoul

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

Seoul vs. Taipei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.0% more for restaurants

	Taipei	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.55 NT$208.54	$8.49 ₩12,611	+29.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.55 NT$176.73	$6.30 ₩9,353	+13.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 NT$36.42	$1.64 ₩2,434	+43.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 NT$23.43	$0.78 ₩1,160	+6.0%
Average			+23.0%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.8% more for groceries

	Taipei	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.87 NT$59.65	$3.24 ₩4,809	+72.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.47 NT$301.22	$6.79 ₩10,089	-28.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.91 NT$378.92	$7.85 ₩11,656	-34.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.64 NT$84.13	$2.93 ₩4,354	+10.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.42 NT$140.51	$4.67 ₩6,933	+5.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 NT$72.98	$3.45 ₩5,117	+50.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.37 NT$43.73	$1.52 ₩2,264	+10.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NT$43.59	$2.35 ₩3,493	+71.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 NT$61.24	$2.77 ₩4,118	+44.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 NT$40.95	$1.62 ₩2,405	+25.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.07	$1.30 ₩1,927	+21.1%
Average			+22.8%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5% more for transportation

	Taipei	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.83 NT$121.87	$4.43 ₩6,581	+15.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 NT$1,251.21	$45.99 ₩68,310	+17.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,375.55 NT$1M	$25,072.36 ₩37M	-31.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 NT$297.16	$10.50 ₩15,596	+12.4%
Average			+3.5%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.5% more for housing

	Taipei	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.93 NT$824.89	$20.56 ₩30,532	-20.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$792.21 NT$25,205.96	$925.55 ₩1M	+16.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$568.06 NT$18,074.25	$559.33 ₩831K	-1.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$62.05 NT$1,974.15	$118.88 ₩177K	+91.6%
Average			+21.5%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 10.7% less for childcare

	Taipei	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$628.11 NT$19,984.65	$360.15 ₩535K	-42.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,860.07 NT$568K	$21,667.04 ₩32M	+21.3%
Average			-10.7%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Taipei	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.24 NT$103.23	$3.54 ₩5,255	+9.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NT$120.79	$3.70 ₩5,493	-2.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.93 NT$125.12	$3.18 ₩4,729	-19.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 NT$1,336.50	$56.34 ₩83,675	+34.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.98 NT$349.30	$10.61 ₩15,764	-3.3%
Average			+3.6%

Taipei vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.5% less for clothing

	Taipei	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.48 NT$2,115.19	$49.77 ₩73,915	-25.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.29 NT$1,154.65	$39.49 ₩58,655	+8.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.45 NT$2,814.28	$74.94 ₩111K	-15.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.72 NT$3,681.90	$99.06 ₩147K	-14.4%
Average			-11.5%

Taipei vs. Seoul - 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: March 2026

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