Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 2.1 times more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 41.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 33.4% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 98.5% more in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 5.9 times more in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.4% more in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 33.1% more in United Arab Emirates

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in United Arab Emirates are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including restaurants and groceries are lower in United Arab Emirates. Notably, childcare, housing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 41.5% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$7.91 AED29.06	-31.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.83	$8.65 AED31.75	+9.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$5.03	$1.04 AED3.83	-63.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.36	$0.50 AED1.85	-79.8%
Average			-41.5%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.4% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.42	$1.47 AED5.39	-52.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.68	$5.36 AED19.68	+7.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.85	$6.96 AED25.56	-5.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.71	$2.81 AED10.34	-49.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.93	$3.68 AED13.51	+8.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.27	$0.98 AED3.59	-24.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.83	$0.75 AED2.75	-28.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.73	$0.73 AED2.69	-53.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.79	$0.59 AED2.15	-78.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.83	$0.48 AED1.76	-54.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.44	$0.53 AED1.93	-36.1%
Average			-33.4%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 98.5% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.45	$2.91 AED10.69	-55.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$53.10 AED195.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$20,123.30	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	+252.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.50 AED31.21
Average			+98.5%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$184.80	$101.41 AED372.42	-4.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$533.27	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	+370.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$533.27	$990.79 AED3,638.67	+224.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$144.27	$122.67 AED450.49	+48.3%
Average			+159.6%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 5.9 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$497.28 AED1,826.25
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,414.80	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	+489.6%
Average			+489.6%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.44	$10.43 AED38.31	+74.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.62	$4.99 AED18.32	+31.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$6.23 AED22.88	-56.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.92	$75.55 AED277.45	+214.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$13.19 AED48.44	+98.8%
Average			+72.4%

Cook Islands vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.1% more for clothing

	Cook Islands	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$112.69	$75.04 AED275.58	+16.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$59.50 AED218.51
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$105.66 AED388.03
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$123.76	$106.53 AED391.23	+50.1%
Average			+33.1%

Cook Islands 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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