Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

Japan

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 ¥962
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$4.94 ¥738
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.97 ¥145	-54.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.73 ¥109	-31.6%
Average			-43.2%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.3% more for groceries

	North Korea	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$1.52 ¥227	-30.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$5.72 ¥854
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$5.46 ¥815	+60.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$2.02 ¥301	-19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.73 ¥407
Apples (1 lb)	??	$2.17 ¥325
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.02 ¥153
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.64 ¥245
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.04 ¥304
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.26 ¥189
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.08 ¥162
Average			+3.3%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.22 ¥631
Monthly public transit pass	??	$57.82 ¥8,633
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,042.19 ¥3,291,449
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$25.42 ¥3,796

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.8 times more for housing

	North Korea	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$31.09 ¥4,643
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$500.38 ¥74,719	+483.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$325.42 ¥48,593	+279.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$113.04 ¥16,879
Average			+381.6%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$288.10 ¥43,021
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$11,095.30 ¥1,656,806

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.1% more for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$2.71 ¥404	-78.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$2.78 ¥415	+159.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.98 ¥595
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$57.72 ¥8,618
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$11.97 ¥1,788
Average			+40.1%

North Korea vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$40.54 ¥6,054
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$26.82 ¥4,004
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$54.08 ¥8,075
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$81.66 ¥12,194

North Korea vs. Japan - 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 2025

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