Cost of living comparison

P'yongyang, North Korea

compared to

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 3.3 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 39.2% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 10.1% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 9.9 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.4% more in Tokyo

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Tokyo are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

Tokyo vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of P'yongyang, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 39.2% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$6.51 ¥976
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$5.21 ¥781
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$1.12 ¥167	-47.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.75 ¥112	-30.5%
Average			-39.2%

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.1% more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$1.63 ¥245	-25.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$7.01 ¥1,051
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$5.89 ¥882	+73.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$2.09 ¥313	-17.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$3.26 ¥489
Apples (1 lb)	??	$2.38 ¥356
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.06 ¥159
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$2.65 ¥397
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.42 ¥362
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.29 ¥193
Onions (1 lb)	??	$1.26 ¥189
Average			+10.1%

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.42 ¥663
Monthly public transit pass	??	$58.62 ¥8,784
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$21,767.76 ¥3,261,789
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$27.88 ¥4,177

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.9 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$31.86 ¥4,774
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$1,120.28 ¥167,868	+1206.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$582.98 ¥87,357	+579.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$134.03 ¥20,084
Average			+893.2%

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$533.29 ¥79,911
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$14,506.96 ¥2,173,794

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.4% more for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$3.26 ¥488	-74.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$3.40 ¥510	+217.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.91 ¥586
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$67.16 ¥10,063
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$12.38 ¥1,854
Average			+71.4%

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$52.60 ¥7,882
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$36.87 ¥5,525
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$63.41 ¥9,502
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$82.89 ¥12,421

P'yongyang vs. Tokyo - 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: April 2025

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