Cost of living comparison

compared to

Busan vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Busan is 9.3% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 36.2% less in Busan
Groceries: pay 59.5% more in Busan
Transportation: pay 32.4% less in Busan
Housing: pay 36.7% less in Busan
Childcare: pay 13.6% less in Busan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.7% less in Busan
Clothing: pay 6.3% more in Busan

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

Busan vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Busan instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.2% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Busan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$7.08 ₩10,428	-50.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$6.01 ₩8,864	-34.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$1.83 ₩2,698	-25.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.31 ₩1,937	-33.6%
Average			-36.2%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 59.5% more for groceries

	Wellington	Busan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$3.18 ₩4,693	+61.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$5.09 ₩7,508	+26.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$8.15 ₩12,014	+20.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$2.88 ₩4,248	-57.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$3.59 ₩5,298	-24.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$3.69 ₩5,440	+171.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$1.44 ₩2,129	+42.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$3.33 ₩4,910	+150.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.30 ₩3,387	-0.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$2.25 ₩3,311	+150.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$1.46 ₩2,152	+115.4%
Average			+59.5%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.4% less for transportation

	Wellington	Busan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$4.36 ₩6,426	-29.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	$56.60 ₩83,424	-48.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$26,696.92 ₩39,345,918	-14.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$9.06 ₩13,348	-37.8%
Average			-32.4%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.7% less for housing

	Wellington	Busan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$28.30 ₩41,712	-41.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$489.40 ₩721,271	-60.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$306.61 ₩451,880	-72.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$139.76 ₩205,971	+27.8%
Average			-36.7%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of housing

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pay 13.6% less for childcare

	Wellington	Busan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$471.71 ₩695,201	-38.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$13,620.52 ₩20,073,916	+11.5%
Average			-13.6%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Busan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$3.54 ₩5,214	-46.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$4.00 ₩5,892	+12.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$3.18 ₩4,693	-87.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$57.31 ₩84,467	+68.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$10.97 ₩16,163	-5.0%
Average			-11.7%

Wellington vs. Busan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.3% more for clothing

	Wellington	Busan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$99.06 ₩145,992	+42.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$61.91 ₩91,245	+32.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$76.06 ₩112,101	-32.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$120.29 ₩177,276	-17.7%
Average			+6.3%

Wellington vs. Busan - 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: December 2025

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