Busan vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Busan	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1060	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2838	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$390	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$797	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$436	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2181	$550
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	72	5
😀 Quality of life	89	34
🏙️ Population	3.45M	115K

The cost of living in Busan is 151% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 5092nd and 8915th ($1060 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 2nd in South Korea and Bhutan, respectively. Check South Korea vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Busan compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 201st and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Busan vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in Busan vs Thimphu

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

	Busan	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.69	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.28	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$392	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$248	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$584	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.3	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.7	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7716	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7051	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.2	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.2	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.05	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.95	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.1	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.4	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.11	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.4	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.58	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.7	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.84	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13395	$666

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$959
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1027
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1075
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$998
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$887
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1030
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1059
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$924
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$983
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$901
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$991
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1388
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1054
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$995
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1115
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$903
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$988
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$1002
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$989
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$992
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$977
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1059
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$987
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$902
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$880
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$1000
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$979
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$854
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1101
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$964
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$891
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$916
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$916
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$913
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$921
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$919
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$910
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$895
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$992
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$970

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300