Cost of living comparison

 Bucharest, Romania
compared to
 Seoul, South Korea
Seoul vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 37.1% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants
pay 33.8% less in Seoul
Groceries
pay 2.6 times more in Seoul
Transportation
pay 43.7% more in Seoul
Housing
pay 52.7% more in Seoul
Childcare
pay 34.2% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.2% more in Seoul
Clothing
pay 3.0% more in Seoul

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

Seoul vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

pay 33.8% less for restaurants

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $11.85
RON52.79
$7.88
₩10,896
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$7.54
RON33.59
$6.09
₩8,419
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.00
RON8.90
$1.59
₩2,194

Improve prices ·

pay 2.6 times more for groceries

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Bread
1 loaf
$1.17
RON5.23
$3.10
₩4,281
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.52
RON20.15
$6.52
₩9,023
Milk (1 gallon) $6.34
RON28.25
$8.06
₩11,145

Improve prices ·

pay 43.7% more for transportation

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.09
RON27.14
$4.59
₩6,345
Monthly public transit pass $17.24
RON76.78
$44.40
₩61,411
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $26,003.12
RON115,828.28
$27,023.07
₩37,372,666

Improve prices ·

pay 52.7% more for housing

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$9.35
RON41.67
$22.27
₩30,805
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $601.94
RON2,681.27
$883.18
₩1,221,429
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $397.23
RON1,769.42
$490.54
₩678,411

Improve prices ·

pay 34.2% more for childcare

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $527.95
RON2,351.70
$385.48
₩533,116
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,631.65
RON47,357.62
$20,782.92
₩28,742,594

Improve prices ·

pay 2.2% more for entertainment and sports

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.23
RON14.40
$3.58
₩4,953
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.17
RON14.11
$3.60
₩4,982
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$5.98
RON26.63
$3.22
₩4,457

Improve prices ·

pay 3.0% more for clothing

 
Bucharest
Seoul
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$78.42
RON349.29
$59.13
₩81,773
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$39.68
RON176.74
$46.64
₩64,509
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$85.94
RON382.83
$86.69
₩119,896

Improve prices ·
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: June 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Romania vs. South Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Romania and South Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Seoul or Bucharest. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.