Pyongyang vs Riyadh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Pyongyang	Riyadh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1672	$1586
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4098	$3407
🏠 One person rent	$957	$921
🏘️ Family rent	$2107	$1393
🍽️ Food expenses	$494	$358
🚐 Transport expenses	$167	$176
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$424	$2861
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	19	71
😀 Quality of life	16	77
🏙️ Population	2.86M	7.01M

The cost of living in Pyongyang is 5% more expensive than in Riyadh. Cities ranked 2973rd and 3292nd ($1672 vs $1586) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in North Korea and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Check North Korea vs Saudi Arabia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Pyongyang compared to 1.8 months in Riyadh. Pyongyang ranked 1st best city to live in North Korea vs Riyadh ranked 1st in Saudi Arabia, while ranked 9011th and 796th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Pyongyang vs Riyadh infographic

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Prices in Pyongyang vs Riyadh

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

	Pyongyang	Riyadh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.46	$7.92
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$111	$52.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$7.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.89	$1.99
☕ Cappuccino	$1.91	$4.33
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.52	$0.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$893	$1005
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$803	$726
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3195	$1969
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1610	$1032
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.5	$65.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$99.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.9	$74.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.42%	5.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1714	$2212
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$930	$1360
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.37	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.3	$37.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.9	$17.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$0.61
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.53	$1.75
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.65	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$2.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.39	$8.03
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.9	$8.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.69	$13.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.94	$1.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$1.29
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.18	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.04	$7.98
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.69	$1.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.8	$7.43
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.27	$2.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.93	$4.26
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.56	$2.61
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.4	$5.1
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.2	$104
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.26	$15.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16	$49.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.42	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$28.6	$50.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$64.5	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$104	$373
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3493	$10359

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Pyongyang

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Pyongsong	$1555
44 km or 27 mi	Nampo	$1574
46 km or 29 mi	Sunchon	$1576
59 km or 36 mi	Sariwon	$1564
65 km or 41 mi	Anju	$1550
76 km or 47 mi	Kaechon	$1564
77 km or 48 mi	Chongju	$1555
95 km or 59 mi	Tokchon	$1553
111 km or 69 mi	Haeju	$1562
115 km or 71 mi	Kusong	$1547
135 km or 84 mi	Huichon	$1545
138 km or 86 mi	Kaesong	$1567
149 km or 92 mi	Wonsan	$1573
163 km or 102 mi	Paju	$1020
165 km or 102 mi	Sinuiju	$1568
165 km or 103 mi	Donggang	$548
167 km or 104 mi	Dandong	$543
170 km or 106 mi	Dongducheon	$968
178 km or 111 mi	Gimpo	$966
180 km or 112 mi	Yangju	$941
180 km or 112 mi	Pocheon	$989
181 km or 112 mi	Goyang	$1008
183 km or 113 mi	Uijeongbu	$936
184 km or 114 mi	Hamhung	$1603
192 km or 119 mi	Incheon	$1067
193 km or 120 mi	Bucheon	$1068
195 km or 121 mi	Seoul	$1461
199 km or 124 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1038
202 km or 125 mi	Guri	$1085
202 km or 125 mi	Namyangju	$1084
209 km or 130 mi	Gwacheon	$1005
210 km or 130 mi	Anyang	$1025
210 km or 131 mi	Hanam	$1074
212 km or 132 mi	Ansan	$990
213 km or 132 mi	Fengcheng	$527
213 km or 133 mi	Gunpo	$1003
215 km or 134 mi	Seongnam	$1127
216 km or 134 mi	Uiwang	$988
216 km or 134 mi	Siheung	$1087
217 km or 135 mi	Chuncheon	$839

Cities near Riyadh

Distance	City	Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$783
316 km or 196 mi	Unaizah	$940
350 km or 217 mi	Ar Rass	$828
389 km or 242 mi	Dhahran	$870
394 km or 245 mi	Dammam	$989
395 km or 245 mi	Jubail	$928
417 km or 259 mi	Qatif	$878
420 km or 261 mi	Riffa	$1218
421 km or 262 mi	Isa Town	$1226
426 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1267
460 km or 286 mi	Al Wafrah	$1268
480 km or 298 mi	As Sulayyil	$1021
491 km or 305 mi	Doha	$1810
496 km or 308 mi	Al Khor	$1719
540 km or 336 mi	Kuwait City	$1457
595 km or 369 mi	Ha'il	$944
611 km or 379 mi	Umm Qasr	$716
618 km or 384 mi	Al-Faw	$713
631 km or 392 mi	Bushehr	$548
646 km or 401 mi	Az Zubayr	$705
652 km or 405 mi	Abadan	$557
658 km or 409 mi	Basra	$879
659 km or 410 mi	Khorramshahr	$552
668 km or 415 mi	Bisha	$895
680 km or 423 mi	Borazjan	$541
701 km or 436 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$542
713 km or 443 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1630
714 km or 443 mi	Nasiriyah	$665
719 km or 447 mi	Medina	$853
737 km or 458 mi	Kazerun	$537
747 km or 464 mi	Behbahan	$507
754 km or 469 mi	Samawah	$586
766 km or 476 mi	Ahvaz	$588
775 km or 481 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1802
790 km or 491 mi	Mecca	$940
798 km or 496 mi	Shiraz	$558
800 km or 497 mi	Amarah	$680
804 km or 499 mi	Bareq	$895
804 km or 500 mi	Jahrom	$561
823 km or 511 mi	Yasuj	$489