Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 65.9% more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 17.4% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 46.4% more in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 1.6% more in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.6 times more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 7.0% less in Abu Dhabi

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

Planning a move to United Arab Emirates? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Abu Dhabi vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.4% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL200.58	$8.17 AED30.00	-27.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.45	$9.53 AED35.00	+9.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.60	$1.15 AED4.24	-4.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.92	$0.42 AED1.53	-53.3%
Average			-17.4%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.4% more for groceries

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.71	$1.62 AED5.94	+127.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.39	$5.81 AED21.35	+18.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.61	$7.38 AED27.10	+55.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.81	$3.49 AED12.81	+25.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.13	$4.40 AED16.16	+86.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.83	$1.12 AED4.13	+156.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.60	$0.95 AED3.48	+8.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.79	$0.84 AED3.09	-10.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL17.97	$0.71 AED2.60	-29.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.58	$0.55 AED2.03	+76.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.40	$0.53 AED1.96	+116.8%
Average			+46.4%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.6% more for transportation

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.06	$3.63 AED13.32	-43.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL241.70	$26.55 AED97.49	+96.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL528K	$29,949.09 AED110K	+1.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.26	$7.62 AED28.00	+54.4%
Average			+1.6%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.39	$88.30 AED324.28	+733.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+189.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+221.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	$148.00 AED543.52	-20.4%
Average			+162.2%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	$790.93 AED2,904.68	+82.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL104K	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+153.7%
Average			+115.0%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.12	$11.57 AED42.50	+415.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.67	$5.96 AED21.87	+175.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.18	$6.67 AED24.50	+94.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL745.01	$95.29 AED349.96	+128.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.43	$14.97 AED54.99	+78.0%
Average			+158.1%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.0% less for clothing

	Chisinau	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	$61.46 AED225.73	-23.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL841.43	$49.09 AED180.30	+4.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	$111.63 AED409.96	-2.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	$110.14 AED404.50	-4.7%
Average			-7.0%

Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Chisinau vs. Abu Dhabi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Abu Dhabi?

More cost comparisons

Chisinau vs.

Quito

Chisinau vs.

Lima

Chisinau vs.

Warsaw

Chisinau vs.

Madrid

Chisinau vs.

Athens

Chisinau vs.

Bangkok

Chisinau vs.

Paris

Chisinau vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Moldova vs. United Arab Emirates. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Moldova and United Arab Emirates.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Chisinau

Add prices for Abu Dhabi

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Abu Dhabi or Chisinau. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.