Cost of living comparison

North Korea

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 63.0% more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.2% less in South Africa
Groceries: pay 14.3% less in South Africa
Housing: pay 4.1 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9% less in South Africa

Expenses including restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in South Africa. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in South Africa.

South Africa vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of North Korea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.2% less for restaurants

	North Korea	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$8.97 ZAR164.10
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$4.77 ZAR87.25
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.95 ZAR17.46	-55.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.74 ZAR13.55	-30.9%
Average			-43.2%

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% less for groceries

	North Korea	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$0.99 ZAR18.12	-55.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$3.67 ZAR67.22
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$4.20 ZAR76.79	+23.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$2.23 ZAR40.73	-11.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.03 ZAR37.10
Apples (1 lb)	??	$0.68 ZAR12.38
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.62 ZAR11.29
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.64 ZAR11.74
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.70 ZAR12.78
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.55 ZAR10.13
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.61 ZAR11.13
Average			-14.3%

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	North Korea	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.99 ZAR91.24
Monthly public transit pass	??	$52.31 ZAR956.77
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$20,607.77 ZAR376,916.06
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.55 ZAR156.36

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.1 times more for housing

	North Korea	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$41.37 ZAR756.65
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$382.55 ZAR6,996.91	+346.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$326.35 ZAR5,968.89	+280.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$80.40 ZAR1,470.48
Average			+313.4%

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	North Korea	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$174.12 ZAR3,184.59
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$4,033.53 ZAR73,773.21

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9% less for entertainment and sports

	North Korea	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$2.11 ZAR38.55	-83.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$1.88 ZAR34.44	+75.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.90 ZAR53.12
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$29.50 ZAR539.56
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.62 ZAR121.10
Average			-3.9%

North Korea vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	North Korea	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$47.72 ZAR872.71
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$32.06 ZAR586.36
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$90.39 ZAR1,653.21
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$81.37 ZAR1,488.20

North Korea vs. South Africa - 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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