Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malaysia vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 45.3% more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 66.3% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 2.6% more in Malaysia
Housing: pay 3.1 times more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.7% more in Malaysia

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

Malaysia vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 66.3% less for restaurants

	North Korea	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$2.98 MYR13.40
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$4.23 MYR19.03
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.68 MYR3.05	-68.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.38 MYR1.72	-64.3%
Average			-66.3%

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6% more for groceries

	North Korea	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$0.91 MYR4.11	-58.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$7.65 MYR34.43
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$6.39 MYR28.75	+88.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$1.97 MYR8.87	-21.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$1.83 MYR8.24
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.17 MYR5.28
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.57 MYR2.56
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.21 MYR5.46
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.63 MYR2.84
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.43 MYR1.94
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.51 MYR2.29
Average			+2.6%

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$1.77 MYR7.97
Monthly public transit pass	??	$15.69 MYR70.59
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$34,330.57 MYR154,487.59
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$6.94 MYR31.22

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1 times more for housing

	North Korea	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$26.31 MYR118.42
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$322.80 MYR1,452.61	+276.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$212.35 MYR955.58	+147.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$33.00 MYR148.50
Average			+212.1%

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$163.68 MYR736.55
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$6,626.64 MYR29,819.88

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.7% more for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$3.66 MYR16.46	-71.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$2.54 MYR11.43	+137.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$4.07 MYR18.30
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$36.32 MYR163.45
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.00 MYR17.99
Average			+32.7%

North Korea vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$53.15 MYR239.17
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$30.13 MYR135.57
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$65.18 MYR293.30
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$57.93 MYR260.71

North Korea vs. Malaysia - 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: January 2025

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