Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. Dubai Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 68.1% more expensive than Dubai.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Iceland
Housing: pay 11.3% less in Iceland
Childcare: pay 23.4% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.5% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 43.8% more in Iceland

The cost of restaurants, transportation, groceries, clothing, childcare, and entertainment and sports in Iceland are more expensive than in Dubai. Notably, restaurants, transportation, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Iceland.

Iceland vs. Dubai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Dubai	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.89 AED40.00	$26.52 ISK3,325	+143.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$21.32 ISK2,673	+123.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.19 AED4.37	$3.11 ISK390	+161.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.90 AED3.31	$2.72 ISK341	+201.4%
Average			+157.5%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Dubai	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 AED5.18	$3.80 ISK477	+169.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.45 AED20.01	$9.44 ISK1,183	+73.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 AED26.15	$7.78 ISK975	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.39 AED12.43	$6.71 ISK841	+98.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.21 AED15.45	$11.22 ISK1,406	+166.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.05 AED3.86	$1.50 ISK188	+42.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 AED3.16	$1.15 ISK144	+33.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.78 AED2.88	$1.41 ISK177	+80.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 AED2.40	$2.34 ISK293	+258.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.94	$1.65 ISK207	+211.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 AED1.92	$1.09 ISK137	+109.5%
Average			+113.9%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Dubai	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.82 AED10.37	$9.65 ISK1,210	+241.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$87.13 AED320.00	$79.56 ISK9,975	-8.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,229.41 AED100K	$49,144.25 ISK6M	+80.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.71 AED32.00	$25.55 ISK3,204	+193.3%
Average			+126.7%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.3% less for housing

	Dubai	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$98.23 AED360.76	$95.65 ISK11,992	-2.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,362.29 AED8,675.50	$2,289.17 ISK287K	-3.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,533.56 AED5,632.00	$1,830.04 ISK229K	+19.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$159.06 AED584.17	$65.15 ISK8,168	-59.0%
Average			-11.3%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 23.4% more for childcare

	Dubai	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$823.12 AED3,022.92	$334.67 ISK41,960	-59.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,907.17 AED54,746.58	$30,711.08 ISK4M	+106.0%
Average			+23.4%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Dubai	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.61 AED50.00	$11.14 ISK1,397	-18.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.65 AED20.75	$5.62 ISK705	-0.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.13 AED22.50	$13.90 ISK1,742	+126.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$84.61 AED310.71	$78.17 ISK9,801	-7.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.98 AED55.00	$16.75 ISK2,100	+11.9%
Average			+22.5%

Dubai vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.8% more for clothing

	Dubai	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.30 AED298.59	$130.91 ISK16,413	+61.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.28 AED232.39	$61.83 ISK7,752	-2.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$129.71 AED476.35	$163.81 ISK20,539	+26.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.75 AED458.15	$237.31 ISK29,754	+90.2%
Average			+43.8%

Dubai vs. Iceland - 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: April 2026

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