Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Ireland

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

Cork is 33.6% more expensive than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Cork
Groceries: pay 48.1% more in Cork
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Cork
Housing: pay 16.3% more in Cork
Childcare: pay 29.7% less in Cork
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.4% less in Cork
Clothing: pay 9.1% more in Cork

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

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Cork vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.17 AED30.00	$22.38 €19.92	+174.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$12.85 €11.44	+34.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 AED4.24	$2.90 €2.58	+151.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 AED1.53	$2.20 €1.96	+429.0%
Average			+126.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.1% more for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 AED5.94	$2.31 €2.06	+42.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.81 AED21.35	$6.99 €6.22	+20.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.38 AED27.10	$6.35 €5.65	-14.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 AED12.81	$4.54 €4.04	+30.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 AED16.16	$5.90 €5.25	+34.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.12 AED4.13	$1.47 €1.31	+30.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 AED3.48	$1.33 €1.18	+40.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 AED3.09	$1.52 €1.35	+80.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 AED2.60	$2.16 €1.92	+205.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 AED2.03	$1.05 €0.93	+89.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$0.81 €0.72	+51.7%
Average			+48.1%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.63 AED13.32	$8.02 €7.13	+120.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.55 AED97.49	$76.14 €67.77	+186.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,949.09 AED110K	$39,000.39 €34,711.75	+30.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$17.24 €15.35	+126.2%
Average			+101.7%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of transportation

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pay 16.3% more for housing

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.30 AED324.28	$55.73 €49.60	-36.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	$2,161.09 €1,923.45	+9.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	$1,811.36 €1,612.17	+29.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$148.00 AED543.52	$183.99 €163.76	+24.3%
Average			+16.3%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of housing

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pay 29.7% less for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$790.93 AED2,904.68	$1,078.55 €959.95	+36.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	$5,374.73 €4,783.70	-63.7%
Average			-29.7%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.57 AED42.50	$7.28 €6.48	-37.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.87	$4.38 €3.90	-26.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.67 AED24.50	$20.16 €17.94	+202.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$95.29 AED349.96	$53.32 €47.45	-44.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.97 AED54.99	$13.44 €11.96	-10.3%
Average			-19.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.1% more for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	Cork
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.46 AED225.73	$94.91 €84.47	+54.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.09 AED180.30	$42.76 €38.06	-12.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.63 AED409.96	$107.90 €96.03	-3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.14 AED404.50	$119.88 €106.70	+8.8%
Average			+9.1%

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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