Cost of living comparison

Seoul, South Korea

compared to

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 9.9% more expensive than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 28.1% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 39.9% less in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 33.2% less in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 16.2% more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.0% less in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 15.9% more in Addis Ababa

The cost of housing, childcare, and clothing in Addis Ababa are more expensive than in Seoul. Expenses including groceries, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Addis Ababa. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of Seoul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.1% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.88 ₩11,332	$6.00 ETB787.35	-23.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.09 ₩8,756	$6.24 ETB818.23	+2.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ₩2,282	$0.78 ETB103.01	-50.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ₩1,209	$0.50 ETB65.90	-40.3%
Average			-28.1%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.9% less for groceries

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,452	$1.20 ETB157.68	-61.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.52 ₩9,384	$4.85 ETB636.90	-25.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.06 ₩11,591	$6.08 ETB797.67	-24.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.06 ₩4,399	$2.65 ETB347.64	-13.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,813	$5.65 ETB740.92	+19.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ₩4,743	$3.30 ETB433.22	+0.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,229	$0.51 ETB66.45	-67.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.44 ₩3,511	$1.08 ETB141.49	-55.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.68 ₩3,862	$0.39 ETB50.72	-85.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 ₩2,489	$0.31 ETB40.85	-82.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩1,995	$0.79 ETB104.22	-42.7%
Average			-39.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.2% less for transportation

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.59 ₩6,599	$4.88 ETB640.34	+6.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$44.40 ₩63,870	$10.00 ETB1,312.25	-77.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,023.07 ₩38,868,985	$25,000.00 ETB3,280,625.00	-7.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.02 ₩11,538	$3.67 ETB480.94	-54.3%
Average			-33.2%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.27 ₩32,038	$171.17 ETB22,461.35	+668.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$883.18 ₩1,270,332	$645.10 ETB84,653.25	-27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$490.54 ₩705,573	$422.74 ETB55,474.35	-13.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.35 ₩191,810	$124.84 ETB16,381.90	-6.4%
Average			+155.3%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 16.2% more for childcare

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$385.48 ₩554,461	$81.47 ETB10,691.33	-78.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,782.92 ₩29,893,384	$43,916.67 ETB5,762,964.58	+111.3%
Average			+16.2%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.58 ₩5,151	$1.00 ETB131.22	-72.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 ₩5,181	$1.15 ETB150.87	-68.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.22 ₩4,636	$4.00 ETB524.90	+24.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.73 ₩77,282	$90.59 ETB11,888.33	+68.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.74 ₩15,452	$6.70 ETB879.21	-37.6%
Average			-17.0%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.9% more for clothing

	Seoul	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.13 ₩85,047	$48.33 ETB6,342.54	-18.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 ₩67,092	$75.17 ETB9,863.75	+61.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.69 ₩124,696	$108.84 ETB14,282.89	+25.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.89 ₩179,638	$119.32 ETB15,657.99	-4.5%
Average			+15.9%

Seoul vs. Addis Ababa - 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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