Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. United Kingdom Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 25.4% cheaper than United Kingdom overall.

Restaurants: pay 49.6% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 65.0% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 45.2% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 55.2% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 48.8% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.3% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 7.4% less in South Korea

Expenses including housing, restaurants, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in South Korea.

South Korea vs. United Kingdom Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of United Kingdom, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 49.6% less for restaurants

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.41 £15.38	$6.72 ₩10,139	-67.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.94 £7.49	$5.50 ₩8,292	-44.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.32 £1.75	$1.47 ₩2,211	-36.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.65 £1.24	$0.82 ₩1,244	-49.9%
Average			-49.6%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 65.0% more for groceries

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.59 £1.20	$2.87 ₩4,335	+80.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.71 £3.55	$5.63 ₩8,485	+19.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.20 £4.67	$7.67 ₩11,577	+23.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.87 £2.92	$2.84 ₩4,278	-26.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 £2.92	$3.34 ₩5,032	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 £0.99	$3.24 ₩4,880	+145.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 £0.55	$1.39 ₩2,093	+90.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.28 £0.97	$2.80 ₩4,218	+118.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.49 £1.13	$2.40 ₩3,626	+61.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 £0.54	$1.78 ₩2,688	+147.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.71 £0.53	$1.20 ₩1,816	+69.8%
Average			+65.0%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.2% less for transportation

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.22 £5.44	$4.40 ₩6,638	-39.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$99.05 £74.66	$47.17 ₩71,157	-52.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,224.29 £27,304.06	$26,440.41 ₩40M	-27.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.08 £16.64	$8.33 ₩12,568	-62.3%
Average			-45.2%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.2% less for housing

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.90 £31.58	$21.68 ₩32,709	-48.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,285.79 £969.17	$473.91 ₩715K	-63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,062.09 £800.55	$357.19 ₩539K	-66.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$233.57 £176.05	$132.53 ₩200K	-43.3%
Average			-55.2%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 48.8% less for childcare

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,530.71 £1,153.78	$378.52 ₩571K	-75.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,375.12 £14,604.00	$15,055.40 ₩23M	-22.3%
Average			-48.8%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.3% less for entertainment and sports

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.35 £4.78	$3.12 ₩4,703	-50.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.54 £3.42	$3.57 ₩5,382	-21.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$19.18 £14.45	$3.18 ₩4,803	-83.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.26 £37.13	$49.86 ₩75,209	+1.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.88 £10.46	$10.12 ₩15,262	-27.1%
Average			-36.3%

United Kingdom vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.4% less for clothing

	United Kingdom	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.00 £64.82	$66.46 ₩100K	-22.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.20 £33.32	$50.68 ₩76,451	+14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.21 £71.76	$72.74 ₩110K	-23.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.36 £76.40	$103.23 ₩156K	+1.9%
Average			-7.4%

United Kingdom 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: March 2026

Compare further: United Kingdom vs. South Korea

Quality of Life Comparison · 11 statistics

Be 35.0% less likely to be unemployed in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

United Kingdom is about 2.4 times bigger than South Korea.

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