Cost of Living inPyongyang, North Korea
Image credit: Uri Tours
Purchasing Power
We do not show a purchasing-power multiplier here yet because we do not have defensible PPP data for this country.
Income Category
City Population
Child Education
International and private school tuition + curriculum mix for relocating families.
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Pyongyang. We publish this section only when we can tie it to local job-board, agency, or country fallback evidence.
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Pyongyang is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in North Korea.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
StrongGood national coverage, strong doctor availability, and solid hospital-bed capacity support this rating.
Public care
MixedRelatively low patient cost-sharing help, but public funding looks lighter.
Private care
LimitedThe tracked private-style network still looks thin and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
77/100
2023
Physicians
3.63/1k
2017
Hospital beds
12.8/1k
2018
Out of pocket
0%
2025
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
73.7 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
67/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
8.9/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedPrice transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce and few facilities expose web pages we can verify weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in North Korea yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Pyongyang, North Korea · Source: GDP-derived estimate (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
About Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea and the only city in the country with sustained foreign presence, almost entirely diplomatic, NGO, or specialized journalism. Independent relocation is not legally possible. Foreign residents live in supervised compounds primarily around the Munsudong diplomatic quarter, with movement, currency exchange, and communications subject to state controls. The climate is continental with cold dry winters and warm humid summers. Infrastructure tiers diverge sharply between the showcase central district along the Taedong River and outer areas, with electricity and heating reliability the most-cited daily considerations among accredited expatriates. Anyone genuinely researching life here should be doing so through a diplomatic posting, recognized aid mission, or accredited media organization, not as a personal move.
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