Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 48.4% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 33.8% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 25.5% more in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 13.7% less in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 14.0% more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 90.6% more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 11.1% more in Abu Dhabi

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

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Abu Dhabi vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of Bucharest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.8% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$8.17 AED30.00	-44.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$9.53 AED35.00	+30.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$1.15 AED4.24	-52.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.42 AED1.53	-81.5%
Average			-33.8%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.5% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.62 AED5.94	+22.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$5.81 AED21.35	+33.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$7.38 AED27.10	+18.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$3.49 AED12.81	-4.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$4.40 AED16.16	+44.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$1.12 AED4.13	+96.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.95 AED3.48	+30.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.84 AED3.09	+22.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$0.71 AED2.60	-38.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.55 AED2.03	+51.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.53 AED1.96	+55.8%
Average			+25.5%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.7% less for transportation

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$3.63 AED13.32	-51.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$26.55 AED97.49	+26.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$29,949.09 AED110K	+5.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$7.62 AED28.00	+35.0%
Average			-13.7%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$88.30 AED324.28	+853.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+190.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+210.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$148.00 AED543.52	+0.1%
Average			+169.7%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 14.0% more for childcare

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$790.93 AED2,904.68	+26.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+3.1%
Average			+14.0%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 90.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$11.57 AED42.50	+207.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$5.96 AED21.87	+69.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$6.67 AED24.50	+3.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$95.29 AED349.96	+93.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$14.97 AED54.99	+79.0%
Average			+90.6%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.1% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$61.46 AED225.73	-30.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$49.09 AED180.30	+27.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$111.63 AED409.96	+43.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$110.14 AED404.50	+20.1%
Average			+11.1%

Bucharest vs. Abu Dhabi - 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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