Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 10.4% more expensive than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 12.2% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 30.6% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 41.1% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 13.5% more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.2% less in Seoul
Clothing: pay 15.6% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 12.2% more for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.89 AED40.00	$8.49 ₩11,768	-22.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$6.30 ₩8,728	-33.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.29 AED4.74	$1.64 ₩2,271	+27.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 AED1.61	$0.78 ₩1,082	+77.5%
Average			+12.2%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 AED5.89	$3.24 ₩4,488	+101.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 AED19.39	$6.79 ₩9,415	+28.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.50 AED27.54	$7.85 ₩10,877	+4.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.64 AED13.37	$2.93 ₩4,063	-19.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 AED15.11	$4.67 ₩6,470	+13.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 AED4.21	$3.45 ₩4,775	+200.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 AED3.00	$1.52 ₩2,113	+86.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 AED3.05	$2.35 ₩3,259	+183.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 AED2.46	$2.77 ₩3,843	+313.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$1.62 ₩2,244	+203.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 AED2.39	$1.30 ₩1,798	+99.0%
Average			+110.5%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.6% more for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.94 AED10.80	$4.43 ₩6,141	+50.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.87 AED95.00	$45.99 ₩63,746	+77.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,639.07 AED164K	$25,072.36 ₩35M	-43.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$10.50 ₩14,554	+37.7%
Average			+30.6%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.1% less for housing

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$100.96 AED370.79	$20.56 ₩28,492	-79.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,490.68 AED5,474.52	$925.55 ₩1M	-37.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,109.19 AED4,073.48	$559.33 ₩775K	-49.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.93 AED425.75	$118.88 ₩165K	+2.5%
Average			-41.1%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 13.5% more for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.43 AED2,296.88	$360.15 ₩499K	-42.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,786.81 AED46,959.57	$21,667.04 ₩30M	+69.4%
Average			+13.5%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.29 AED41.45	$3.54 ₩4,904	-68.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.77 AED21.18	$3.70 ₩5,126	-35.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.26 AED23.00	$3.18 ₩4,413	-49.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.90 AED230.98	$56.34 ₩78,084	-10.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.61 AED50.00	$10.61 ₩14,711	-22.0%
Average			-37.2%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% less for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.62 AED222.62	$49.77 ₩68,976	-17.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.93 AED190.71	$39.49 ₩54,736	-24.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.09 AED360.23	$74.94 ₩104K	-23.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.21 AED353.33	$99.06 ₩137K	+3.0%
Average			-15.6%

Abu Dhabi vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: September 2026

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