Cost of living comparison

Mali

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Bamako Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 68.5% more expensive than Bamako.

Restaurants: pay 11.1% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 22.3% less in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 44.1% less in Riyadh
Housing: pay 5.2 times more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.2% more in Riyadh

The cost of housing and entertainment and sports in Riyadh are more expensive than in Bamako. Expenses including transportation, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Riyadh. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Riyadh.

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Riyadh vs. Bamako Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riyadh instead of Bamako, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.1% less for restaurants

	Bamako	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.50 F CFA4,963	$7.99 SAR30.00	-5.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.18 F CFA4,777	$7.99 SAR30.00	-2.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.93 F CFA540	$0.87 SAR3.28	-5.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 F CFA394	$0.31 SAR1.18	-53.6%
Average			-11.1%

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.3% less for groceries

	Bamako	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$3.84 F CFA2,240	$1.29 SAR4.83	-66.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.91 F CFA5,201	$5.27 SAR19.78	-40.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.22 F CFA4,214	$6.76 SAR25.39	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.92 F CFA3,454	$3.08 SAR11.57	-47.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.08 F CFA4,135	$4.34 SAR16.27	-38.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 F CFA1,059	$1.30 SAR4.88	-28.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 F CFA278	$0.87 SAR3.28	+83.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.28 F CFA749	$1.13 SAR4.23	-12.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 F CFA557	$0.80 SAR2.99	-16.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 F CFA326	$0.54 SAR2.04	-2.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 F CFA305	$0.59 SAR2.21	+12.8%
Average			-22.3%

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.1% less for transportation

	Bamako	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.20 F CFA2,452	$2.35 SAR8.82	-44.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$37.31 SAR140.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$34,642.08 SAR130K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$18.12 SAR68.00
Average			-44.1%

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2 times more for housing

	Bamako	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.00 F CFA37,949	$71.73 SAR269.20	+10.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$175.00 F CFA102K	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+578.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$80.00 F CFA46,706	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+942.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.71 F CFA66,968	$81.86 SAR307.20	-28.6%
Average			+424.7%

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Bamako	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$530.73 SAR1,991.76
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Bamako	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.39 F CFA1,393	$2.13 SAR8.00	-10.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.67 F CFA974	$4.28 SAR16.07	+156.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$7.73 SAR29.00
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.00 F CFA40,868	$89.94 SAR337.52	+28.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$13.32 SAR50.00
Average			+42.2%

Bamako vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Bamako	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.30 SAR218.78
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$54.26 SAR203.65
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$102.59 SAR385.02
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$103.93 SAR390.02

Bamako 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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