Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Iraq

Iraq vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

Iraq is 23.4% more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 79.9% less in Iraq
Groceries: pay 19.6% less in Iraq
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Iraq
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.1% more in Iraq

The cost of housing and entertainment and sports in Iraq are more expensive than in North Korea. Expenses including restaurants and groceries are lower in Iraq. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Iraq.

Iraq vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iraq instead of North Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 79.9% less for restaurants

	North Korea	Iraq
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$4.64 IQD6,101
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$6.72 IQD8,831
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.42 IQD547	-80.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.22 IQD293	-79.2%
Average			-79.9%

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.6% less for groceries

	North Korea	Iraq
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$0.82 IQD1,071	-63.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$2.51 IQD3,301
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$4.56 IQD5,991	+34.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$1.76 IQD2,318	-30.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.21 IQD2,900
Apples (1 lb)	??	$0.48 IQD632
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.52 IQD679
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.44 IQD583
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.30 IQD400
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.28 IQD364
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.28 IQD369
Average			-19.6%

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Iraq
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$1.93 IQD2,529
Monthly public transit pass	??	$39.46 IQD51,846
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$16,587.19 IQD21,791,237
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.54 IQD20,411

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	North Korea	Iraq
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$34.52 IQD45,357
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$280.02 IQD367,867	+226.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$188.34 IQD247,426	+119.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$66.51 IQD87,374
Average			+173.2%

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Iraq
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$139.67 IQD183,487
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$2,045.09 IQD2,686,712

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.1% more for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Iraq
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$2.57 IQD3,379	-80.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$2.36 IQD3,102	+120.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.06 IQD2,701
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$32.77 IQD43,055
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.37 IQD11,002
Average			+20.1%

North Korea vs. Iraq - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Iraq
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$23.65 IQD31,066
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$25.45 IQD33,441
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$48.29 IQD63,439
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$36.75 IQD48,276

North Korea vs. Iraq - 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: May 2025

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