Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Brunei Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 47.9% more expensive than Brunei overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.8% more in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 27.9% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 23.2% more in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 97.2% more in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 91.7% more in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 1.0% more in United Arab Emirates

The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, childcare, restaurants, transportation, and clothing in United Arab Emirates are more expensive than in Brunei. Notably, entertainment and sports, housing, and childcare are significantly more expensive in United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates vs. Brunei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.8% more for restaurants

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.68 BND4.76	$7.91 AED29.06	+115.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.87 BND8.90	$8.65 AED31.75	+25.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 BND1.26	$1.04 AED3.83	+6.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 BND0.72	$0.50 AED1.85	-9.1%
Average			+34.8%

Brunei vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.9% less for groceries

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$2.09 BND2.71	$1.47 AED5.39	-29.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.49 BND8.42	$5.36 AED19.68	-17.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 BND8.86	$6.96 AED25.56	+1.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.44 BND3.16	$2.81 AED10.34	+15.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.19 BND4.14	$3.68 AED13.51	+15.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.73 BND2.24	$0.98 AED3.59	-43.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.98 BND1.27	$0.75 AED2.75	-23.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 BND2.00	$0.73 AED2.69	-52.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.94 BND2.52	$0.59 AED2.15	-69.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 BND1.36	$0.48 AED1.76	-54.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 BND1.31	$0.53 AED1.93	-47.8%
Average			-27.9%

Brunei vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.2% more for transportation

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.43 BND1.85	$2.91 AED10.69	+104.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$53.10 AED195.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,557.48 BND39,619.20	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	+33.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.30 BND34.10	$8.50 AED31.21	-67.7%
Average			+23.2%

Brunei vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 97.2% more for housing

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.09 BND88.28	$101.41 AED372.42	+48.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$727.22 BND942.87	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	+97.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$612.39 BND793.99	$990.79 AED3,638.67	+61.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.74 BND56.71	$122.67 AED450.49	+180.5%
Average			+97.2%

Brunei vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 91.7% more for childcare

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$156.63 BND203.08	$497.28 AED1,826.25	+217.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,411.76 BND16,092.43	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-34.2%
Average			+91.7%

Brunei vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.93 BND2.51	$10.43 AED38.31	+439.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 BND5.31	$4.99 AED18.32	+21.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.60 BND15.04	$6.23 AED22.88	-46.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.15 BND83.17	$75.55 AED277.45	+17.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.41 BND7.02	$13.19 AED48.44	+143.6%
Average			+115.2%

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

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pay 1.0% more for clothing

	Brunei	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$96.72 BND125.40	$75.04 AED275.58	-22.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$84.22 BND109.19	$59.50 AED218.51	-29.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.87 BND154.11	$105.66 AED388.03	-11.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$63.82 BND82.75	$106.53 AED391.23	+66.9%
Average			+1.0%

Brunei 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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