Kabul vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kabul	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$474	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1052	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$203	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$302	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$158	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.8	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$218	$2911
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	30	100
😀 Quality of life	14	95
🏙️ Population	4.27M	9.67M

The cost of living in Kabul is 64% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 8769th and 4104th ($474 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 3rd in Afghanistan and South Korea, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Kabul compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 9071st and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kabul vs Seoul infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Seoul

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

	Kabul	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.38	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.34	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.64	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.11	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$1.53	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.32	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$140	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$90	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$312	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$141	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.8	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.54%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$404	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$202	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.2	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.8	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.27	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.27	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.39	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.88	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.12	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.38	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.97	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.48	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.01	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.37	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$12.8	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.15	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.2	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.79	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$16.1	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.4	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$17.2	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1356	$20197

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 Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019