---
title: "Cost of Living: Seoul vs Athens — Geo-Parity"
description: "Greece is 7.2% more expensive than South Korea for monthly essentials ($1,430 vs $1,334). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-south-korea/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=GR"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · KR vs GR

# 🇰🇷 Seoul vs 🇬🇷 Athens: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$1,334** in South Korea vs **$1,430** in Greece — 7.2% more expensive.

- **Essentials, South Korea**: $1,334/mo
- **Essentials, Greece**: $1,430/mo
- **Difference**: +7.2%
- **1-bed city rent, Greece**: $968/mo

## Biggest differences

Smallest premium in Greece

- Imported beer, 330ml bottle: +2.3%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): +2.3%
- Running shoes (brand): +2.3%

Pricier in Greece

- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: +8.2%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: +8.2%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: +8.2%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | South Korea | Greece | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $894 | $968 (856 EUR) | +8.2% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $715 | $774 (685 EUR) | +8.2% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $1,635 | $1,770 (1,566 EUR) | +8.2% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $10.62 | $11.30 (10 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $44.25 | $47.09 (42 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $6.81 | $7.21 (6 EUR) | +5.9% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.75 | $0.78 (1 EUR) | +4% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.18 | $2.28 (2 EUR) | +4.6% |
| Eggs, dozen | $2.32 | $2.42 (2 EUR) | +4.3% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $6.81 | $7.13 (6 EUR) | +4.7% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.73 | $2.85 (3 EUR) | +4.4% |
| Apples, 1kg | $3.27 | $3.42 (3 EUR) | +4.6% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $8.18 | $8.55 (8 EUR) | +4.5% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.36 | $1.43 (1 EUR) | +5.2% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $3.54 | $3.77 (3 EUR) | +6.5% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $6.60 | $6.75 (6 EUR) | +2.3% |
| Cappuccino | $2.95 | $3.14 (3 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.57 | $1.64 (1 EUR) | +4.5% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $40.24 | $42.58 (38 EUR) | +5.8% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.70 | $1.80 (2 EUR) | +5.9% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $2.36 | $2.51 (2 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Taxi, per km | $1.06 | $1.13 (1 EUR) | +6.6% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.78 | $0.80 (1 EUR) | +2.6% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $124 | $131 (116 EUR) | +5.8% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $43.33 | $45.85 (41 EUR) | +5.8% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $27.86 | $29.48 (26 EUR) | +5.8% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $29.50 | $31.39 (28 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Cinema seat | $8.26 | $8.79 (8 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Men's haircut | $17.70 | $18.84 (17 EUR) | +6.4% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $45.40 | $46.44 (41 EUR) | +2.3% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $74.29 | $75.99 (67 EUR) | +2.3% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $148 | $157 (139 EUR) | +6.4% |

Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the [interactive tool](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=prices&base=KR&target=GR).

## Beyond prices

What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about **8,491 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 🇬🇷 Greece |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $2,316 | $2,031 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $797 | $852 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 34.4% | 41.9% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $1,058 | $673 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 2.6 | 6.6 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Seoul and Athens. | 76 | 95 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | strong | middling |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2 (very low) | 2.9 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 18 | 15 |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 19.2 | 15 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 83.6 | 81.8 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 97.9% | 86.3% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 273.4 | 129.1 |

## Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?

Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.

🇰🇷 South Korea

21.1 pts

13.3% of your income vs 34.4% of a local wage

🇬🇷 Greece

27.7 pts

14.2% of your income vs 41.9% of a local wage

Worked at $6,000/month. [Run it on your own income](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=housing)

## The whole South Korea → Greece move, in one place

Everything above is free and always will be. The relocation report is the same engines run together for this one corridor: what you keep after rent, prices, healthcare and tax; the local wage ladder you would be earning against; which visas your income qualifies for; the day count that makes you tax-resident; and the months worth being there for.

[See the South Korea → Greece report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/south-korea-to-greece/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

- [Reverse view: Greece vs South Korea](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-south-korea/)
- [Fair salary: South Korea → Greece](https://geo-parity.com/salary/south-korea-to-greece/)
- [How much to retire in Greece?](https://geo-parity.com/fire/greece/)
- [Cost of living in Greece vs the US](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/greece/)

## More comparisons

### South Korea compared with

- [South Korea vs Spain](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-spain/)
- [South Korea vs Japan](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-japan/)
- [South Korea vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-italy/)
- [South Korea vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-portugal/)
- [South Korea vs Singapore](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-singapore/)
- [South Korea vs Czechia](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-czechia/)

### Moving to Greece from

- [Portugal vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-greece/)
- [Singapore vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/singapore-vs-greece/)
- [Japan vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/japan-vs-greece/)
- [Czechia vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/czechia-vs-greece/)
- [United Arab Emirates vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/united-arab-emirates-vs-greece/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much more expensive is Greece than South Korea?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $1,430 in Greece versus $1,334 in South Korea — 7.2% more. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Greece?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $3.77 in Greece (≈ 3.34 EUR), versus about $3.54 in South Korea.
- **How much is rent in Greece compared to South Korea?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $968/month in Greece versus $894/month in South Korea (+8.2%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- **How are these prices estimated?**: Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.

Model estimates — verify locally. Agents: GET /api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=GR.

---

Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-south-korea/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=GR