Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Dubai vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Dubai is 71.6% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% less in Dubai
Groceries: pay 7.5% more in Dubai
Transportation: pay 64.6% more in Dubai
Housing: pay 4.2 times more in Dubai
Childcare: pay 13.0% more in Dubai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 96.6% more in Dubai
Clothing: pay 22.9% more in Dubai

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, clothing, childcare, and groceries in Dubai are more expensive than in Bucharest. Notably, housing and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Dubai.

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Dubai vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dubai instead of Bucharest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Dubai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.80 RON63.10	$10.89 AED40.00	-21.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.05 RON36.81	$9.53 AED35.00	+18.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.27 RON10.40	$1.19 AED4.37	-47.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 RON9.81	$0.90 AED3.31	-58.0%
Average			-27.1%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.5% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Dubai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 RON6.60	$1.41 AED5.18	-2.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 RON22.79	$5.45 AED20.01	+9.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 RON30.49	$7.12 AED26.15	+6.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.62 RON16.55	$3.39 AED12.43	-6.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.38 RON15.46	$4.21 AED15.45	+24.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.64 RON2.94	$1.05 AED3.86	+63.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 RON3.60	$0.86 AED3.16	+9.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 RON3.67	$0.78 AED2.88	-2.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.18 RON5.42	$0.65 AED2.40	-44.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 RON2.13	$0.53 AED1.94	+13.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 RON2.15	$0.52 AED1.92	+11.0%
Average			+7.5%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries

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pay 64.6% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Dubai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.36 RON29.07	$2.82 AED10.37	-55.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.00 RON105.16	$87.13 AED320.00	+278.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,745.54 RON131K	$27,229.41 AED100K	-5.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.21 RON28.39	$8.71 AED32.00	+40.3%
Average			+64.6%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.2 times more for housing

	Bucharest	Dubai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.39 RON52.08	$98.23 AED360.76	+762.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$647.24 RON2,959.85	$2,362.29 AED8,675.50	+265.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$432.85 RON1,979.44	$1,533.56 AED5,632.00	+254.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$139.60 RON638.38	$159.06 AED584.17	+13.9%
Average			+323.9%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of housing

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pay 13.0% more for childcare

	Bucharest	Dubai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$664.86 RON3,040.42	$823.12 AED3,022.92	+23.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,582.52 RON66,685.86	$14,907.17 AED54,746.58	+2.2%
Average			+13.0%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare

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pay 96.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Dubai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.45 RON15.77	$13.61 AED50.00	+294.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.28 RON15.01	$5.65 AED20.75	+72.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.67 RON30.50	$6.13 AED22.50	-8.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.49 RON240.05	$84.61 AED310.71	+61.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.20 RON42.07	$14.98 AED55.00	+62.8%
Average			+96.6%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.9% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Dubai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$80.54 RON368.31	$81.30 AED298.59	+0.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.47 RON207.95	$63.28 AED232.39	+39.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.98 RON429.76	$129.71 AED476.35	+38.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.75 RON501.89	$124.75 AED458.15	+13.7%
Average			+22.9%

Bucharest vs. Dubai - 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: July 2026

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