Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Denmark

Copenhagen vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

Copenhagen is 42.2% more expensive than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Copenhagen
Groceries: pay 80.5% more in Copenhagen
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Copenhagen
Housing: pay 3.3% less in Copenhagen
Childcare: pay 15.4% less in Copenhagen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.9% less in Copenhagen
Clothing: pay 41.6% more in Copenhagen

The cost of transportation, restaurants, groceries, and clothing in Copenhagen are more expensive than in Abu Dhabi. Expenses including childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Copenhagen. Notably, transportation, restaurants, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Copenhagen.

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Copenhagen vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Copenhagen instead of Abu Dhabi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.17 AED30.00	$20.97 DKK142.24	+156.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$13.48 DKK91.44	+41.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 AED4.24	$5.10 DKK34.57	+341.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 AED1.53	$3.77 DKK25.54	+805.2%
Average			+149.6%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 80.5% more for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 AED5.94	$4.77 DKK32.36	+195.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.81 AED21.35	$8.64 DKK58.60	+48.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.38 AED27.11	$7.89 DKK53.51	+6.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 AED12.81	$5.89 DKK39.96	+68.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 AED16.17	$6.31 DKK42.78	+43.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.12 AED4.13	$1.52 DKK10.33	+35.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 AED3.48	$1.39 DKK9.40	+46.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 AED3.09	$1.96 DKK13.28	+132.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 AED2.60	$2.59 DKK17.54	+265.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 AED2.03	$1.07 DKK7.24	+93.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$0.95 DKK6.45	+78.3%
Average			+80.5%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.63 AED13.33	$9.58 DKK65.00	+164.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.55 AED97.50	$104.86 DKK711.22	+295.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,949.09 AED110K	$50,184.55 DKK340K	+67.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$19.03 DKK129.04	+149.6%
Average			+153.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3% less for housing

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.30 AED324.32	$37.42 DKK253.82	-57.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,966.33 AED7,222.34	$1,981.79 DKK13,441.10	+0.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,399.56 AED5,140.58	$1,454.31 DKK9,863.56	+3.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$148.00 AED543.60	$138.83 DKK941.59	-6.2%
Average			-3.3%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of housing

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pay 15.4% less for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$790.93 AED2,905.08	$977.91 DKK6,632.45	+23.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,819.26 AED54,431.15	$8,580.66 DKK58,196.59	-42.1%
Average			-15.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.57 AED42.50	$8.99 DKK60.96	-22.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.88	$6.97 DKK47.30	+17.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.67 AED24.50	$9.44 DKK64.01	+41.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$95.29 AED350.01	$64.00 DKK434.09	-32.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.97 AED55.00	$20.22 DKK137.16	+35.1%
Average			-0.9%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.6% more for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	Copenhagen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.46 AED225.76	$108.66 DKK736.96	+76.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.09 AED180.32	$53.68 DKK364.08	+9.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.63 AED410.01	$128.48 DKK871.42	+15.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.14 AED404.56	$199.12 DKK1,350.48	+80.8%
Average			+41.6%

Abu Dhabi vs. Copenhagen - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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