Busan vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Busan	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1114	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2827	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$430	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$741	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$443	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2595	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	72	1
😀 Quality of life	92	28
🏙️ Population	3.45M	63.4K

The cost of living in Busan is 107% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 5007th and 8474th ($1114 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 2nd in South Korea and Kiribati, respectively. Check South Korea vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.3 months in Busan compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Busan ranked 3rd best city to live in South Korea vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 121st and 8872nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/busan/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Busan vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/busan/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Busan vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Busan vs South Tarawa

Prices for goods and services in Busan and South Tarawa are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Busan	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.89	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.2	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.33	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.24	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.65	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$478	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$269	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$873	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$493	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.3	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.2%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8921	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7114	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.03	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.37	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.1	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.87	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.57	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.64	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.27	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.72	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$83.9	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$465	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15370	$4200

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$946
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1005
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1032
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$994
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$961
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$991
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1020
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$981
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$993
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$945
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$976
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1012
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1111
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1043
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$997
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$944
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1030
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$996
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$1008
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$943
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$916
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1014
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$970
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$944
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$916
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$951
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$954
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$823
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1062
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$994
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$932
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$968
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$965
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$977
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$955
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$954
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$940
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$934
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$922
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$963

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610