Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Abu Dhabi Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 1.7% cheaper than Abu Dhabi.

Restaurants: pay 10.3% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 11.3% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 26.7% more in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 2.0% less in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 28.3% less in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.9% less in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 14.2% more in United Arab Emirates

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

United Arab Emirates vs. Abu Dhabi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Arab Emirates instead of Abu Dhabi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.3% less for restaurants

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.89 AED40.00	$7.91 AED29.06	-27.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$8.65 AED31.75	-9.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.29 AED4.74	$1.04 AED3.83	-19.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 AED1.61	$0.50 AED1.85	+14.6%
Average			-10.3%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.3% less for groceries

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 AED5.89	$1.47 AED5.39	-8.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 AED19.39	$5.36 AED19.68	+1.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.50 AED27.54	$6.96 AED25.56	-7.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.64 AED13.37	$2.81 AED10.34	-22.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 AED15.11	$3.68 AED13.51	-10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 AED4.21	$0.98 AED3.59	-14.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 AED3.00	$0.75 AED2.75	-8.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 AED3.05	$0.73 AED2.69	-11.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 AED2.46	$0.59 AED2.15	-12.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.96	$0.48 AED1.76	-10.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 AED2.39	$0.53 AED1.93	-19.2%
Average			-11.3%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.7% more for transportation

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.94 AED10.80	$2.91 AED10.69	-1.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.87 AED95.00	$53.10 AED195.00	+105.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,639.07 AED163,937.00	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	-8.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.62 AED28.00	$8.50 AED31.21	+11.5%
Average			+26.7%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0% less for housing

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$100.96 AED370.79	$101.41 AED372.42	+0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,490.68 AED5,474.52	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	-3.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,109.19 AED4,073.48	$990.79 AED3,638.67	-10.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.93 AED425.75	$122.67 AED450.49	+5.8%
Average			-2.0%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 28.3% less for childcare

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.43 AED2,296.88	$497.28 AED1,826.25	-20.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,786.81 AED46,959.57	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-36.1%
Average			-28.3%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.29 AED41.45	$10.43 AED38.31	-7.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.77 AED21.18	$4.99 AED18.32	-13.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.26 AED23.00	$6.23 AED22.88	-0.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.90 AED230.98	$75.55 AED277.45	+20.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.61 AED50.00	$13.19 AED48.44	-3.1%
Average			-0.9%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.2% more for clothing

	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.62 AED222.62	$75.04 AED275.58	+23.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.93 AED190.71	$59.50 AED218.51	+14.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.09 AED360.23	$105.66 AED388.03	+7.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.21 AED353.33	$106.53 AED391.23	+10.7%
Average			+14.2%

Abu Dhabi vs. United Arab Emirates - 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: December 2025

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