Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

United Kingdom

London vs. Dubai Cost of Living Summary

London is 45.6% more expensive than Dubai.

Restaurants: pay 68.3% more in London
Groceries: pay 30.4% more in London
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in London
Housing: pay 28.6% more in London
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.4% less in London
Clothing: pay 33.4% more in London

The cost of childcare, transportation, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and housing in London are more expensive than in Dubai. Notably, childcare and transportation are significantly more expensive in London.

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London vs. Dubai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 68.3% more for restaurants

	Dubai	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.80 AED46.99	$26.43 £19.76	+106.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$10.57 £7.90	+10.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67 AED6.12	$2.95 £2.21	+77.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 AED2.89	$2.16 £1.61	+173.5%
Average			+68.3%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.4% more for groceries

	Dubai	London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.54 AED5.66	$2.04 £1.52	+32.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.21 AED22.81	$6.36 £4.75	+2.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.92 AED25.40	$6.98 £5.22	+0.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.34 AED12.26	$5.01 £3.74	+49.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.36 AED16.00	$4.81 £3.60	+10.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 AED4.39	$1.40 £1.05	+17.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 AED3.23	$0.63 £0.47	-28.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.85 AED3.12	$1.38 £1.03	+62.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 AED2.34	$1.52 £1.13	+138.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 AED1.89	$0.74 £0.55	+43.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 AED1.67	$0.80 £0.60	+75.8%
Average			+30.4%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Dubai	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.66 AED13.44	$7.95 £5.94	+117.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.87 AED274.97	$245.79 £183.77	+228.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,226.44 AED99,989.11	$38,182.92 £28,549.06	+40.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.86 AED32.56	$31.77 £23.75	+258.3%
Average			+122.1%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.6% more for housing

	Dubai	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$92.93 AED341.28	$40.48 £30.27	-56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,407.39 AED8,841.14	$2,841.09 £2,124.26	+18.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,513.73 AED5,559.16	$2,287.10 £1,710.05	+51.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$187.87 AED689.96	$284.00 £212.35	+51.2%
Average			+28.6%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Dubai	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$859.15 AED3,155.21	$2,857.20 £2,136.31	+232.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,941.05 AED65,888.51	$35,755.44 £26,734.06	+99.3%
Average			+157.4%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Dubai	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.61 AED49.99	$9.25 £6.92	-32.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.89	$5.62 £4.20	-5.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.99 AED22.00	$23.46 £17.54	+291.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$99.96 AED367.10	$60.55 £45.27	-39.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.34 AED59.99	$17.84 £13.34	+9.2%
Average			-5.4%

Dubai vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.4% more for clothing

	Dubai	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.92 AED249.45	$113.97 £85.22	+67.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.98 AED209.24	$53.96 £40.34	-5.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.70 AED377.18	$125.54 £93.86	+22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.57 AED365.67	$162.46 £121.47	+63.2%
Average			+33.4%

Dubai vs. London - 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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