The Kimchi-jjigae Index
What a standard Korean meal costs, region by region — the Big Mac Index logic applied to the meals people actually eat here. Prices are average shop prices surveyed by the Korea Consumer Agency, 7/2026. No editor picked these numbers; receipts did.
Source: Korea Price Information Portal (Chamgagyeok) — dining-out price survey (한국소비자원 참가격 외식비 가격동향) — Korea Consumer Agency (한국소비자원). Survey month 2026-07 · 8 staple menus × 16 regions. Retrieved 2026-08-29.
Kimchi-jjigae set meal (one serving), average shop price by region. The priciest region (Daejeon) charges 28% more than the cheapest (Jeonnam).
- 1Daejeon대전₩10,600
- 2Jeju제주₩9,625
- 3Jeonbuk전북₩9,550
- 4Chungbuk충북₩9,429
- 5Chungnam충남₩9,400
- 6Gwangju광주₩9,100
- 7Gangwon강원₩9,000
- 8Gyeongbuk경북₩8,923
- 9Gyeonggi경기₩8,841
- 10Gyeongnam경남₩8,808
- 11Ulsan울산₩8,800
- 12Incheon인천₩8,667
- 13Seoul서울₩8,654
- 14Daegu대구₩8,583
- 15Busan부산₩8,429
- 16Jeonnam전남₩8,278
Practical takeaways
- The cheapest average meal budget (across 7 per-serving menus; weight-priced samgyeopsal excluded) is Jeonnam at ₩9,048; the priciest is Seoul at ₩10,410 — a 15% gap.
- Seoul averages ₩10,410 per meal — the most expensive of 16 regions.
Computed only from the table above — nothing added from outside this dataset.
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