Cost of living comparison

Qatar

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Doha Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 9.9% cheaper than Doha.

Restaurants: pay 12.1% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 13.9% more in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 18.8% more in Riyadh
Housing: pay 26.0% less in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 8.8% less in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.8% less in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 5.0% more in Riyadh

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

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Riyadh vs. Doha Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riyadh instead of Doha, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.1% less for restaurants

	Doha	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.61 QAR35.16	$7.99 SAR30.00	-16.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.23 QAR30.14	$7.99 SAR30.00	-2.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 QAR3.45	$0.87 SAR3.28	-7.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 QAR1.53	$0.31 SAR1.18	-24.9%
Average			-12.1%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.9% more for groceries

	Doha	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.39 QAR5.07	$1.29 SAR4.83	-7.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.62 QAR20.58	$5.27 SAR19.78	-6.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.97 QAR29.19	$6.76 SAR25.39	-15.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.41 QAR12.49	$3.08 SAR11.57	-9.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.56 QAR13.02	$4.34 SAR16.27	+22.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.01 QAR3.71	$1.30 SAR4.88	+28.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 QAR3.02	$0.87 SAR3.28	+6.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.70 QAR2.57	$1.13 SAR4.23	+60.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 QAR2.04	$0.80 SAR2.99	+42.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 QAR1.59	$0.54 SAR2.04	+24.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 QAR1.63	$0.59 SAR2.21	+32.3%
Average			+13.9%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.8% more for transportation

	Doha	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.14 QAR7.82	$2.35 SAR8.82	+10.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.44 QAR100.46	$37.31 SAR140.01	+35.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,978.05 QAR102K	$34,642.08 SAR130K	+23.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.39 QAR67.31	$18.12 SAR68.00	-1.4%
Average			+18.8%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.0% less for housing

	Doha	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$86.45 QAR316.45	$71.73 SAR269.20	-17.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,897.48 QAR6,946.15	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	-37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,178.09 QAR4,312.64	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	-29.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.24 QAR238.83	$81.86 SAR307.20	+25.5%
Average			-26.0%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 8.8% less for childcare

	Doha	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$670.94 QAR2,456.14	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	-20.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,605.02 QAR35,161.31	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	+5.2%
Average			-8.8%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Doha	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.21 QAR44.71	$2.13 SAR8.00	-82.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.87 QAR21.49	$4.28 SAR16.07	-27.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.45 QAR23.61	$7.73 SAR29.00	+19.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$125.60 QAR459.80	$89.94 SAR337.52	-28.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.35 QAR45.21	$13.32 SAR50.00	+7.9%
Average			-36.8%

Doha vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.0% more for clothing

	Doha	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.60 QAR221.85	$58.30 SAR218.78	-3.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.93 QAR197.41	$54.26 SAR203.65	+0.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.54 QAR364.40	$102.59 SAR385.02	+3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$85.38 QAR312.54	$103.93 SAR390.02	+21.7%
Average			+5.0%

Doha vs. Riyadh - 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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