Cost of living comparison

Papua New Guinea

compared to

North Korea

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

North Korea is 45.2% more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 94.8% more in North Korea
Groceries: pay 11.6% less in North Korea
Housing: pay 91.1% less in North Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9 times more in North Korea

The cost of entertainment and sports and restaurants in North Korea are more expensive than in Papua New Guinea. Expenses including housing and groceries are lower in North Korea. Notably, entertainment and sports and restaurants are significantly more expensive in North Korea.

North Korea vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in North Korea instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 94.8% more for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.38 PGK51.06	??
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.43 PGK30.64	??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.28	$2.14 KPW1,929	+169.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 PGK3.68	$1.07 KPW965	+20.2%
Average			+94.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.6% less for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PGK6.13	$2.20 KPW1,983	+48.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.20 PGK9.06	??
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.01 PGK28.93	$3.40 KPW3,058	-51.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.68 PGK15.20	$2.52 KPW2,267	-31.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 PGK13.51	??
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 PGK6.42	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.19 PGK4.93	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 PGK7.19	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 PGK8.34	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 PGK6.48	??
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 PGK5.64	??
Average			-11.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.29 PGK17.69	??
Monthly public transit pass	$16.69 PGK68.82	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,877.21 PGK106,716.02	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.04 PGK90.89	??

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 91.1% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$309.54 PGK1,276.51	??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,346.03 PGK9,674.91	$85.74 KPW77,167	-96.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$609.17 PGK2,512.17	$85.74 KPW77,167	-85.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.11 PGK322.13	??
Average			-91.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$494.23 PGK2,038.16	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,498.59 PGK18,551.91	??

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 PGK10.21	$12.86 KPW11,575	+419.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.83 PGK7.56	$1.07 KPW965	-41.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.48 PGK30.84	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.19 PGK186.37	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.67 PGK35.74	??
Average			+188.9%

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	North Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.25 PGK161.86	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.57 PGK183.82	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.38 PGK265.51	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.43 PGK405.93	??

Papua New Guinea vs. North Korea - 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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Papua New Guinea vs.

Germany

Papua New Guinea vs.

China

Papua New Guinea vs.

Ireland

Papua New Guinea vs.

Austria

Papua New Guinea vs.

Thailand

Papua New Guinea vs.

Egypt

Papua New Guinea vs.

Australia

Papua New Guinea vs.

Vietnam

Share this

Compare by city

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

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 Papua New Guinea

Add prices for North Korea

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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