Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

South Korea

Daejeon vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

Daejeon is 37.0% cheaper than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 16.8% less in Daejeon
Groceries: pay 93.9% more in Daejeon
Transportation: pay 11.6% less in Daejeon
Housing: pay 74.5% less in Daejeon
Childcare: pay 25.0% less in Daejeon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.1% less in Daejeon
Clothing: pay 8.4% less in Daejeon

Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, restaurants, transportation, and clothing are lower in Daejeon. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Daejeon.

Planning a move to South Korea? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Daejeon vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.8% less for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.17 AED30.00	$7.46 ₩10,179	-8.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$5.45 ₩7,431	-42.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 AED4.24	$1.23 ₩1,680	+6.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 AED1.53	$0.66 ₩896	+57.9%
Average			-16.8%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 93.9% more for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62 AED5.94	$2.71 ₩3,690	+67.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.81 AED21.35	$5.50 ₩7,507	-5.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.38 AED27.10	$8.08 ₩11,020	+9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 AED12.81	$2.52 ₩3,441	-27.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 AED16.16	$3.64 ₩4,964	-17.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.12 AED4.13	$4.99 ₩6,810	+344.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 AED3.48	$2.52 ₩3,440	+166.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 AED3.09	$2.60 ₩3,540	+208.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 AED2.60	$2.69 ₩3,671	+280.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 AED2.03	$2.37 ₩3,232	+329.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$1.25 ₩1,708	+134.9%
Average			+93.9%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.6% less for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.63 AED13.32	$4.72 ₩6,440	+30.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.55 AED97.49	$11.20 ₩15,269	-57.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,949.09 AED110K	$28,162.26 ₩38M	-6.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$9.18 ₩12,521	+20.4%
Average			-11.6%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 74.5% less for housing

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.30 AED324.28	$22.39 ₩30,538	-74.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	$373.20 ₩509K	-81.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	$298.56 ₩407K	-78.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$148.00 AED543.52	$133.06 ₩181K	-10.1%
Average			-74.5%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.0% less for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$790.93 AED2,904.68	$302.29 ₩412K	-61.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	$21,781.84 ₩30M	+47.0%
Average			-25.0%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 52.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.57 AED42.50	$3.55 ₩4,835	-69.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.87	$3.68 ₩5,015	-38.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.67 AED24.50	$3.36 ₩4,581	-49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$95.29 AED349.96	$33.59 ₩45,807	-64.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.97 AED54.99	$11.20 ₩15,269	-25.2%
Average			-52.1%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.4% less for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	Daejeon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.46 AED225.73	$64.19 ₩87,542	+4.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.09 AED180.30	$41.05 ₩55,986	-16.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.63 AED409.96	$93.30 ₩127K	-16.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.14 AED404.50	$106.36 ₩145K	-3.4%
Average			-8.4%

Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Abu Dhabi vs. Daejeon

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Daejeon?

More cost comparisons

Abu Dhabi vs.

Reykjavik

Abu Dhabi vs.

Lima

Abu Dhabi vs.

Toronto

Abu Dhabi vs.

Athens

Abu Dhabi vs.

Paris

Abu Dhabi vs.

Sydney

Abu Dhabi vs.

Bangkok

Abu Dhabi vs.

Moscow

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Abu Dhabi

Add prices for Daejeon

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Daejeon or Abu Dhabi. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.