Cost of living comparison

Seoul, South Korea

compared to

Vientiane vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 27.4% cheaper than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 60.6% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 42.5% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 16.1% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 13.4% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 34.6% less in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.5% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 5.2% less in Vientiane

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, childcare, housing, and clothing are lower in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Seoul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 60.6% less for restaurants

	Seoul	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.88 ₩11,196	$1.98 LAK42,864	-74.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.09 ₩8,652	$2.97 LAK64,296	-51.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ₩2,255	$0.53 LAK11,431	-66.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ₩1,195	$0.42 LAK9,146	-49.7%
Average			-60.6%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.5% less for groceries

	Seoul	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,399	$0.91 LAK19,717	-70.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.52 ₩9,272	$13.72 LAK296,574	+110.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.06 ₩11,452	$6.42 LAK138,793	-20.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.06 ₩4,346	$1.75 LAK37,847	-42.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,731	$2.95 LAK63,793	-37.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ₩4,687	$0.88 LAK19,066	-73.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,202	$0.49 LAK10,643	-68.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.44 ₩3,469	$0.92 LAK19,963	-62.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.68 ₩3,816	$0.60 LAK12,881	-77.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 ₩2,459	$0.73 LAK15,694	-58.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩1,971	$0.46 LAK9,903	-67.0%
Average			-42.5%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.1% more for transportation

	Seoul	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.59 ₩6,521	$5.00 LAK108,184	+9.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$44.40 ₩63,107	$49.23 LAK1,064,402	+10.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,023.07 ₩38,404,776	$28,330.27 LAK612,483,800	+4.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.02 ₩11,400	$11.18 LAK241,752	+39.4%
Average			+16.1%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.4% less for housing

	Seoul	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.27 ₩31,655	$11.17 LAK241,548	-49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$883.18 ₩1,255,161	$859.15 LAK18,574,364	-2.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$490.54 ₩697,147	$775.98 LAK16,776,173	+58.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.35 ₩189,519	$54.31 LAK1,174,112	-59.3%
Average			-13.4%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 34.6% less for childcare

	Seoul	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$385.48 ₩547,839	$332.66 LAK7,191,908	-13.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,782.92 ₩29,536,370	$9,252.41 LAK200,031,610	-55.5%
Average			-34.6%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.58 ₩5,089	$0.95 LAK20,508	-73.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 ₩5,119	$1.50 LAK32,333	-58.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.22 ₩4,580	$1.59 LAK34,291	-50.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.73 ₩76,359	$49.74 LAK1,075,316	-7.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.74 ₩15,268	$3.50 LAK75,752	-67.4%
Average			-51.5%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.2% less for clothing

	Seoul	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.13 ₩84,031	$85.86 LAK1,856,178	+45.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 ₩66,290	$62.88 LAK1,359,399	+34.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.69 ₩123,207	$57.29 LAK1,238,524	-33.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.89 ₩177,493	$41.48 LAK896,716	-66.8%
Average			-5.2%

Seoul vs. Vientiane - 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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