Cost of living in Pyongyang, prices and what it is like to live for an Expat, quality of life / hardship, and compare cost of living for Expatriates as at January 2020.

What is it like to live in Pyongyang?

Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea.

Pyongyang has been completely redesigned since the Korean War (1950–1953). It is designed with wide avenues, imposing monuments, and monolithic buildings. The city also has regular international train services to Beijing and Moscow. A journey to Beijing takes about 25 hours and 25 minutes; a journey to Moscow takes 6 days.

The population of Pyongyang is 3.2 Million (2019 est.), and the inflation rate (CPI) is 55% for North Korea as at July 2013.

The Xpatulator Hypothetical Tax for Democratic Republic of Korea is based on the current personal income tax rate of 0% as there is currently no personal income tax.

For more information, we also cover Democratic Republic of Korea.

What is the cost of living in Pyongyang?

The cost of living for expatriates in Pyongyang as at January 2020 is very high in comparison to other places in the world. We have collected prices for the same items, world wide, based on Expat spending norms, in or closest to the location, and converted them to $USD so that we can compare the cost of 13 different baskets in 780 global locations. For each basket, compared to New York, the equivalent cost in Pyongyang is as follows:
1) Alcohol and/or Tobacco: for items such as beer, spirits, wine and tobacco related products such as cigarettes. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1260.
2) Clothing: for items such as business, casual and children's clothing and footwear. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$690.
3) Communication: for various communication costs such as home telephone rental, internet subscription, mobile service provider tariff and data costs. A basket costing USD$200 in New York costs USD$190.
4) Education: for items such as creche / pre-school fees, primary school fees, high school fees and tertiary study fees. A basket costing USD$30000 in New York costs USD$31500.
5) Furniture & Appliances: for items such as dining table and chairs, home entertainment, kitchen appliances, and sofas. A basket costing USD$2500 in New York costs USD$2900.
6) Groceries: for items such as consumables, cleaning products, dairy, fresh fruit & vegetables, general food products, snacks, soft drinks. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1060
7) Healthcare: for general heath care, doctor visits, hospital stays, non-prescription medicine, and medical insurance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$750.
8) Household Accommodation: for items such as apartment rent, house rent, property purchase, mortgage rate, and utilities. A basket costing USD$5000 in New York costs USD$1350.
9) Miscellaneous: for items such as dry cleaning, linen, magazines, newspapers, office supplies, and postage stamps. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$1005.
10) Personal Care: for items such as cosmetics, hair care, and toiletries. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$505.
11) Recreation & Culture: for items such as books, cinema, sport and theatre tickets. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$715.
12) Restaurants Meals Out and Hotels: for items such as hotel daily room rates, meals and beverages in a restaurant, and take away food and beverages. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$660.
13) Transport: for items such as fuel (petrol/gasoline), car hire, public transport, vehicle purchase and maintenance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$1200.

How does the cost of living in Pyongyang compare?

Pyongyang is 64.4% more expensive than Houston TX for groceries, -22.2% cheaper for household costs than Kuala Lumpur, and 99.1% more expensive for transport costs than Dubai.

What is the quality of life / hardship in Pyongyang?

Pyongyang is ranked as an extreme hardship location.The hardship premium for Pyongyang for an expat from Perth, is for example 30%, i.e. host location (Pyongyang) premium of 40% minus home (Perth) location premium of 10%.