Kabul vs Pyongyang - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kabul	Pyongyang
🚶 Cost of living one person	$474	$1675
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1052	$4114
🏠 One person rent	$203	$959
🏘️ Family rent	$302	$2118
🍽️ Food expenses	$158	$496
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.8	$168
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$218	$411
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	30	19
😀 Quality of life	14	20
🏙️ Population	4.27M	2.86M

The cost of living in Kabul is 72% less expensive than in Pyongyang. Cities ranked 8769th and 2779th ($474 vs $1675) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Afghanistan and North Korea, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs North Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Kabul compared to 0.2 months in Pyongyang. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Pyongyang ranked 1st in North Korea, while ranked 9071st and 8868th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kabul vs Pyongyang infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Pyongyang

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

	Kabul	Pyongyang
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.38	$8.46
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.34	$112
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.64	$5.05
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.11	$1.87
☕ Cappuccino	$1.53	$1.89
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.32	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$140	$892
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$90	$805
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$312	$3191
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$141	$1625
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$81.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.8	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$55.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.54%	12.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$404	$1656
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$202	$984
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.2	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.8	$47.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.27	$19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$0.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$2.52
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.27	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.39	$2.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$9.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$18.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$6.86
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$3.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$6.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$2.95
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$0.97
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$0.32
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.88	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.12	$6.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.38	$2.82
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.97	$3.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.48	$2.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.01	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.37	$4.43
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$12.8	$24.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.15	$4.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.2	$16
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.79	$4.35
👖 Brand Jeans	$16.1	$28.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.4	$63
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$17.2	$103
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1356	$3399

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$386
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$303
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$389
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$366
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$381
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$346
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$379
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$394
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$366
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$364
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$408
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$382
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$442
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$596
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$401
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$414
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$458
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$593
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$605
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$354
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$355
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$468
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$292
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$389
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$273
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$342
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$380
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$306
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$373
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$354
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$266
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$392
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$305
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$308
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$361
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$281
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$374
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$321
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$476

Cities near Pyongyang

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Pyongsong	$1548
44 km or 27 mi	Nampo	$1570
46 km or 29 mi	Sunchon	$1574
59 km or 36 mi	Sariwon	$1561
65 km or 41 mi	Anju	$1554
76 km or 47 mi	Kaechon	$1565
77 km or 48 mi	Chongju	$1547
95 km or 59 mi	Tokchon	$1546
111 km or 69 mi	Haeju	$1550
115 km or 71 mi	Kusong	$1549
135 km or 84 mi	Huichon	$1538
138 km or 86 mi	Kaesong	$1565
149 km or 92 mi	Wonsan	$1568
163 km or 102 mi	Paju	$1075
165 km or 102 mi	Sinuiju	$1572
165 km or 103 mi	Donggang	$505
167 km or 104 mi	Dandong	$503
170 km or 106 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
178 km or 111 mi	Gimpo	$1099
180 km or 112 mi	Yangju	$974
180 km or 112 mi	Pocheon	$1040
181 km or 112 mi	Goyang	$1171
183 km or 113 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
184 km or 114 mi	Hamhung	$1597
192 km or 119 mi	Incheon	$1092
193 km or 120 mi	Bucheon	$1163
195 km or 121 mi	Seoul	$1334
199 km or 124 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
202 km or 125 mi	Guri	$1122
202 km or 125 mi	Namyangju	$1129
209 km or 130 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
210 km or 130 mi	Anyang	$1022
210 km or 131 mi	Hanam	$1161
212 km or 132 mi	Ansan	$1070
213 km or 132 mi	Fengcheng	$492
213 km or 133 mi	Gunpo	$1098
215 km or 134 mi	Seongnam	$1400
216 km or 134 mi	Uiwang	$1063
216 km or 134 mi	Siheung	$1283
217 km or 135 mi	Chuncheon	$865