Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 40.0% more expensive than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 41.4% more in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 44.6% more in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 2.5% more in Riyadh
Housing: pay 42.6% more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 14.1% more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.7 times more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 21.9% more in Riyadh

The cost of entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, restaurants, clothing, and childcare in Riyadh are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Riyadh.

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Riyadh vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riyadh instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.4% more for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$7.99 SAR30.00	+99.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$7.99 SAR30.00	+23.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.87 SAR3.28	+44.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.31 SAR1.18	-52.3%
Average			+41.4%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.6% more for groceries

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$1.29 SAR4.83	+8.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$5.27 SAR19.78	+42.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$6.76 SAR25.39	+65.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$3.08 SAR11.57	+74.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$4.34 SAR16.27	-5.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$1.30 SAR4.88	-46.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.87 SAR3.28	+193.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$1.13 SAR4.23	+14.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.80 SAR2.99	+158.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.54 SAR2.04	+147.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.59 SAR2.21	+20.8%
Average			+44.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5% more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$2.35 SAR8.82	-33.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$37.31 SAR140.01	+76.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$34,642.08 SAR130K	-37.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$18.12 SAR68.00	+414.1%
Average			+2.5%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.6% more for housing

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$71.73 SAR269.20	-66.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+67.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+111.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$81.86 SAR307.20	-47.8%
Average			+42.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 14.1% more for childcare

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	+289.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	-66.5%
Average			+14.1%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.7 times more for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$2.13 SAR8.00	+166.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$4.28 SAR16.07	+365.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$7.73 SAR29.00	-3.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$89.94 SAR337.52	+103.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$13.32 SAR50.00	+255.3%
Average			+170.5%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.9% more for clothing

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$58.30 SAR218.78	+75.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$54.26 SAR203.65	-23.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$102.59 SAR385.02	+30.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$103.93 SAR390.02	+25.7%
Average			+21.9%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - 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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