How Much Will Your Cornflakes Cost In Asia?


Ever wondered how much your breakfast might cost if you move to Asia? Whether it's actually cereal in particular you wonder about or not, there are a lot of benefits to gain from looking at cost comparisons around Asia.

If you want to head abroad to teach and aren't sure which countries have higher living costs, this article should give you a little insight.

Admittedly, it's a bit on the fun side as it only looks at cereal, but we'll be doing a few other cost comparison posts in the future too.

It's also worth pointing out that there are some amazing breakfast foods to be found all around Asia, and you'll definitely be forgetting about cereal in no time. However, for the sake of giving you a point of reference, and for adding a bit of fun to the comparison process, we're sticking firmly with our corn flakes.

The Ingredients

Let's look at what ingredients are included in your cereal, and how much they'll cost in some of the major cities around Asia. These figures are up to date as of 2015, but you'll need to consider fluctuating currency exchanges.

As you probably guessed, there are only three ingredients we're going to look at: milk, cornflakes, and sugar. Compare these prices to those in your own country to get a (rough) comparison with your current living costs!


Prices for 375g carton

Seoul - KRW 4000 (£2.19)

Singapore - SGD 3.95 (£1.81)

Tokyo - JPY 300 (£1.62)

Taipei - TWD 90 (£1.80)

Ho Chi Minh City - VND 40,000 (£1.19)

Please note, we couldn't get figures for cornflakes sold in Beijing or Shanghai, but due to the popularity of those cities, we'll include their prices of milk and sugar in this list too.


Prices for 1 litre/2.11 pints.

Seoul - KRW 2500 (£1.37)

Singapore - SGD 3.50 (£1.60)

Tokyo - JPY 170 (£0.92)

Taipei - TWD 73 (£1.46)

Ho Chi Minh City - VND 25,000 (£0.72)

Beijing - CNY 22 (£2.24)

Shanghai - CNY 22 (£2.24)


Prices for 1kg

Seoul - KRW 3000 (£1.64)

Singapore - SGD 1.55 (£0.71)

Tokyo - JPY 220 (£1.18)

Taipei - TWD 50 (£1.00)

Ho Chi Minh City - VND 10,000 (£0.29)

Beijing - CNY 10 (£1.02)

Shanghai - CNY 10 (£1.02)


Figures based on 30g cornflakes, 1tsp sugar and 125ml milk. Let's see who comes out on top!

Seoul - £0.35

Singapore - £0.34

Tokyo - £0.24

Taipei - £0.32

Ho Chi Minh City - £0.18

So based on this, Vietnam is the cheapest place to get a bowl of cornflakes, with Seoul being the most expensive. 

Take It With A Pinch Of Salt..or Sugar!

While these comparisons are accurate for cornflakes, you can't take them to fully compare the total cost of living throughout Asia. It's obvious that Seoul is more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City, but Taipei is definitely not more expensive overall than Tokyo, so you have to look at the bigger picture.

Places like Singapore have a large amount of expats and are an ex-British colony, so a box of cornflakes will be much easier to come by and will therefore be cheaper. Taipei and Seoul on the other hand don't care for cereal as much, so would charge more for them, as they're seen as more exotic.

Also, while your cornflakes might be pricier in Taipei, your rent would be cheaper, so it depends on what you prefer!

In a future article, we'll compare more every day items and general living costs, so stay tuned.

Please note, the figures we used in this article came from's guide to city costs (registration required).