Busan vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Busan	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1108	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2784	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$427	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$724	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$440	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2577	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	72	1
😀 Quality of life	92	25
🏙️ Population	3.45M	63.4K

The cost of living in Busan is 108% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4938th and 8428th ($1108 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 15th and 1st 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 4th best city to live in South Korea vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 150th and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Busan vs South Tarawa infographic

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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	$6.02	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.2	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.67	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.25	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$3.89	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.87	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$414	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$278	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$752	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$499	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97.5	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.7	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.23%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8888	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7037	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.99	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.72	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.92	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.15	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.1	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.92	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.25	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.68	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.9	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.34	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.74	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.61	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.3	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.66	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.83	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.6	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13429	$3644

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	$975
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1039
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1084
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$1008
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$913
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1038
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1076
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$934
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$984
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$937
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$1001
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1097
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1064
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1062
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1008
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$933
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1024
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$991
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$994
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$949
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$934
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1016
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$980
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$925
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$929
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$957
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$973
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$831
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1081
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$1005
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$908
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$950
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$942
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$955
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$939
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$936
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$923
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$913
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$959
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$981

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637