Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Taiwan Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 31.1% more expensive than Taiwan overall.

Restaurants: pay 45.8% more in South Korea
Groceries: pay 34.8% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 12.7% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 39.6% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 8.3% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.1% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 18.9% more in South Korea

The cost of restaurants, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation in South Korea are more expensive than in Taiwan.

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South Korea vs. Taiwan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.8% more for restaurants

	Taiwan	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 NT$139.05	$7.06 ₩9,422	+64.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.99 NT$162.04	$6.17 ₩8,230	+23.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 NT$30.88	$1.53 ₩2,039	+60.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NT$21.00	$0.88 ₩1,181	+36.8%
Average			+45.8%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.8% more for groceries

	Taiwan	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NT$56.61	$3.04 ₩4,055	+74.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.75 NT$349.01	$6.12 ₩8,174	-43.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.29 NT$366.40	$8.23 ₩10,982	-27.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.49 NT$80.93	$2.94 ₩3,923	+17.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 NT$120.51	$4.11 ₩5,484	+10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.94 NT$62.88	$4.00 ₩5,342	+106.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.13 NT$36.64	$1.55 ₩2,069	+37.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 NT$44.17	$3.00 ₩4,000	+120.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.45 NT$47.20	$2.63 ₩3,513	+81.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.85	$2.03 ₩2,715	+89.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 NT$31.03	$1.26 ₩1,685	+32.0%
Average			+34.8%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.7% more for transportation

	Taiwan	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.85 NT$124.93	$5.01 ₩6,685	+30.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.67 NT$1,125.07	$46.10 ₩61,538	+33.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,963.14 NT$1M	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.50 NT$275.86	$8.59 ₩11,470	+1.1%
Average			+12.7%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.6% more for housing

	Taiwan	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.08 NT$684.07	$24.34 ₩32,490	+15.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.93 NT$15,023.86	$561.73 ₩750K	+21.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$291.17 NT$9,449.44	$387.83 ₩518K	+33.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$62.73 NT$2,035.67	$153.72 ₩205K	+145.1%
Average			+39.6%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 8.3% more for childcare

	Taiwan	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$537.84 NT$17,454.70	$545.93 ₩729K	+1.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,498.18 NT$568K	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+15.5%
Average			+8.3%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Taiwan	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.82 NT$59.22	$3.30 ₩4,403	+80.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.83 NT$91.90	$3.66 ₩4,888	+29.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.03 NT$130.73	$3.35 ₩4,467	-16.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.82 NT$1,227.43	$57.32 ₩76,507	+51.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.97 NT$323.61	$11.28 ₩15,062	+13.2%
Average			+33.1%

Taiwan vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.9% more for clothing

	Taiwan	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.97 NT$1,978.77	$67.53 ₩90,139	+10.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.64 NT$1,059.16	$53.43 ₩71,316	+63.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.55 NT$2,549.27	$78.10 ₩104K	-0.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.75 NT$3,009.92	$102.84 ₩137K	+10.9%
Average			+18.9%

Taiwan 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: Taiwan vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

Live 2.5 years longer in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Taiwan is about 2.8 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Taiwan to South Korea · OECD 2023

2,220 people moved from Taiwan to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Taipei vs Seoul

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