Cost of living comparison

Ireland

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Cork Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 25.1% cheaper than Cork.

Restaurants: pay 55.8% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 32.5% less in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 50.4% less in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 14.0% less in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 42.2% more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.1% more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 8.3% less in Abu Dhabi

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

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Abu Dhabi vs. Cork Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.8% less for restaurants

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.38 €19.92	$8.17 AED30.00	-63.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.85 €11.44	$9.53 AED35.00	-25.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.90 €2.58	$1.15 AED4.24	-60.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20 €1.96	$0.42 AED1.53	-81.1%
Average			-55.8%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.5% less for groceries

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.31 €2.06	$1.62 AED5.94	-30.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.99 €6.22	$5.81 AED21.35	-16.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.35 €5.65	$7.38 AED27.10	+16.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.54 €4.04	$3.49 AED12.81	-23.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.90 €5.25	$4.40 AED16.16	-25.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.47 €1.31	$1.12 AED4.13	-23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.33 €1.18	$0.95 AED3.48	-28.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.52 €1.35	$0.84 AED3.09	-44.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.16 €1.92	$0.71 AED2.60	-67.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.93	$0.55 AED2.03	-47.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.81 €0.72	$0.53 AED1.96	-34.1%
Average			-32.5%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 50.4% less for transportation

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.02 €7.13	$3.63 AED13.32	-54.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$76.14 €67.77	$26.55 AED97.49	-65.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$39,000.39 €34,711.75	$29,949.09 AED110K	-23.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.24 €15.35	$7.62 AED28.00	-55.8%
Average			-50.4%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.0% less for housing

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.73 €49.60	$88.30 AED324.28	+58.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,161.09 €1,923.45	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	-9.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,811.36 €1,612.17	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	-22.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$183.99 €163.76	$148.00 AED543.52	-19.6%
Average			-14.0%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 42.2% more for childcare

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,078.55 €959.95	$790.93 AED2,904.68	-26.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,374.73 €4,783.70	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+175.7%
Average			+42.2%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 €6.48	$11.57 AED42.50	+59.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.38 €3.90	$5.96 AED21.87	+36.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$20.16 €17.94	$6.67 AED24.50	-66.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.32 €47.45	$95.29 AED349.96	+78.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.44 €11.96	$14.97 AED54.99	+11.4%
Average			+24.1%

Cork vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.3% less for clothing

	Cork	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$94.91 €84.47	$61.46 AED225.73	-35.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.76 €38.06	$49.09 AED180.30	+14.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$107.90 €96.03	$111.63 AED409.96	+3.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.88 €106.70	$110.14 AED404.50	-8.1%
Average			-8.3%

Cork 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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