Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 2.7% cheaper than Aruba overall.

Restaurants: pay 46.1% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 49.0% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 1.0% more in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 21.1% more in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 21.2% more in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.1% more in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 8.8% more in United Arab Emirates

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

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.1% less for restaurants

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.00 AWG30.60	$7.91 AED29.06	-53.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.14 AWG18.24	$8.65 AED31.75	-14.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.86 AWG3.34	$1.04 AED3.83	-43.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 AWG3.29	$0.50 AED1.85	-72.4%
Average			-46.1%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.0% less for groceries

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40 AWG6.12	$1.47 AED5.39	-56.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.12 AWG20.03	$5.36 AED19.68	-51.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.97 AWG14.34	$6.96 AED25.56	-12.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.41 AWG9.74	$2.81 AED10.34	-48.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.61 AWG6.49	$3.68 AED13.51	+1.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.41 AWG4.34	$0.98 AED3.59	-59.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.16 AWG2.09	$0.75 AED2.75	-35.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.72 AWG4.90	$0.73 AED2.69	-73.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 AWG4.69	$0.59 AED2.15	-77.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41 AWG2.54	$0.48 AED1.76	-66.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 AWG2.35	$0.53 AED1.93	-59.6%
Average			-49.0%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.0% more for transportation

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.48 AWG9.86	$2.91 AED10.69	-46.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00 AWG54.00	$53.10 AED195.00	+77.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,095.70 AWG46,972.26	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	+55.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$48.03 AWG86.45	$8.50 AED31.21	-82.3%
Average			+1.0%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.1% more for housing

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$86.50 AWG155.71	$101.41 AED372.42	+17.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$705.36 AWG1,269.65	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	+103.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$985.96 AWG1,774.72	$990.79 AED3,638.67	+0.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$195.56 AWG352.01	$122.67 AED450.49	-37.3%
Average			+21.1%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 21.2% more for childcare

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$275.00 AWG495.00	$497.28 AED1,826.25	+80.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,223.55 AWG23,802.39	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-38.3%
Average			+21.2%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.00 AWG7.20	$10.43 AED38.31	+160.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.24 AWG7.64	$4.99 AED18.32	+17.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.75 AWG24.75	$6.23 AED22.88	-54.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$83.11 AWG149.60	$75.55 AED277.45	-9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.47 AWG22.44	$13.19 AED48.44	+5.8%
Average			+24.1%

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.8% more for clothing

	Aruba	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.00 AWG99.00	$75.04 AED275.58	+36.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.85 AWG104.14	$59.50 AED218.51	+2.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.41 AWG205.93	$105.66 AED388.03	-7.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.90 AWG185.22	$106.53 AED391.23	+3.5%
Average			+8.8%

Aruba 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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