Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Dubai Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 29.0% cheaper than Dubai.

Restaurants: pay 17.6% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 1.8% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 5.1% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 59.4% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 23.6% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.5% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 9.8% more in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Dubai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.6% more for restaurants

	Dubai	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.80 AED47.00	$13.77 HUF4,557.69	+7.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$10.17 HUF3,367.63	+6.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67 AED6.12	$2.08 HUF689.52	+24.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 AED2.89	$1.83 HUF605.26	+132.0%
Average			+17.6%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.8% more for groceries

	Dubai	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.54 AED5.66	$1.80 HUF594.49	+16.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.21 AED22.81	$5.57 HUF1,845.02	-10.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.92 AED25.41	$4.40 HUF1,454.92	-36.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.34 AED12.26	$3.88 HUF1,282.85	+16.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.36 AED16.00	$3.10 HUF1,026.87	-28.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 AED4.39	$0.85 HUF281.16	-28.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 AED3.24	$0.94 HUF310.26	+6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.85 AED3.12	$1.06 HUF349.64	+24.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 AED2.34	$1.73 HUF571.67	+171.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 AED1.89	$0.45 HUF148.01	-13.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 AED1.67	$0.46 HUF151.03	+0.5%
Average			+1.8%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.1% more for transportation

	Dubai	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.66 AED13.44	$7.07 HUF2,339.33	+93.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.87 AED275.01	$27.54 HUF9,115.39	-63.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,226.44 AED100K	$29,374.56 HUF10M	+7.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.86 AED32.56	$14.14 HUF4,679.23	+59.5%
Average			+5.1%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.4% less for housing

	Dubai	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$92.93 AED341.33	$23.57 HUF7,802.93	-74.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,407.39 AED8,842.35	$817.66 HUF271K	-66.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,513.73 AED5,559.92	$631.44 HUF209K	-58.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$187.87 AED690.05	$132.77 HUF43,947.67	-29.3%
Average			-59.4%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 23.6% less for childcare

	Dubai	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$859.15 AED3,155.64	$539.65 HUF179K	-37.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,941.05 AED65,897.48	$16,674.34 HUF6M	-7.1%
Average			-23.6%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Dubai	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.61 AED50.00	$3.67 HUF1,215.39	-73.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.89	$3.35 HUF1,107.33	-43.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.99 AED22.00	$7.96 HUF2,633.33	+32.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$99.96 AED367.15	$67.07 HUF22,201.03	-32.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.34 AED60.00	$9.33 HUF3,089.10	-42.9%
Average			-44.5%

Dubai vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.8% more for clothing

	Dubai	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.92 AED249.49	$100.01 HUF33,103.25	+47.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.98 AED209.27	$42.98 HUF14,225.63	-24.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.70 AED377.23	$113.36 HUF37,522.60	+10.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.57 AED365.72	$118.19 HUF39,120.21	+18.7%
Average			+9.8%

Dubai vs. Budapest - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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