Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 95.5% more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.2% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 3.3% more in Japan
Housing: pay 4.8 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.1% more in Japan

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Japan are more expensive than in North Korea. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Japan.

Japan vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.2% less for restaurants

	North Korea	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$6.44 ¥1,012
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$4.94 ¥777
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.97 ¥153	-54.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.73 ¥115	-31.6%
Average			-43.2%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.3% more for groceries

	North Korea	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$1.52 ¥239	-30.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$5.72 ¥899
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$5.46 ¥858	+60.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$2.02 ¥317	-19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.73 ¥429
Apples (1 lb)	??	$2.17 ¥342
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.02 ¥161
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.64 ¥258
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.04 ¥320
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.26 ¥199
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.08 ¥170
Average			+3.3%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.22 ¥664
Monthly public transit pass	??	$57.82 ¥9,088
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,042.19 ¥3,464,922
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$25.42 ¥3,996

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.8 times more for housing

	North Korea	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$31.09 ¥4,887
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$500.38 ¥78,657	+483.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$325.42 ¥51,154	+279.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$113.04 ¥17,769
Average			+381.6%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$288.10 ¥45,288
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$11,095.30 ¥1,744,127

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.1% more for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$2.71 ¥426	-78.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$2.78 ¥437	+159.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.98 ¥626
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$57.72 ¥9,073
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$11.97 ¥1,882
Average			+40.1%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$40.54 ¥6,373
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$26.82 ¥4,216
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$54.08 ¥8,501
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$81.66 ¥12,837

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: January 2025

More cost comparisons

North Korea vs.

Iceland

North Korea vs.

Canada

North Korea vs.

Ecuador

North Korea vs.

Poland

North Korea vs.

United States

North Korea vs.

Peru

North Korea vs.

Italy

North Korea vs.

Egypt

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in P'yongyang vs. Tokyo

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

Add prices for North Korea

Add prices for Japan

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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