Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 17.3% cheaper than Dubai.

Restaurants: pay 27.0% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 15.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 55.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 62.9% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 69.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 37.5% less in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Playa del Carmen instead of Dubai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.0% more for restaurants

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.89 AED40.00	$11.90 MX$208.65	+9.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$10.83 MX$189.98	+13.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.19 AED4.37	$1.62 MX$28.48	+36.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.90 AED3.31	$1.34 MX$23.54	+48.7%
Average			+27.0%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.2% more for groceries

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 AED5.18	$1.98 MX$34.69	+40.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.45 AED20.01	$4.33 MX$75.99	-20.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 AED26.15	$5.50 MX$96.44	-22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.39 AED12.43	$2.27 MX$39.77	-33.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.21 AED15.45	$3.76 MX$65.94	-10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.05 AED3.86	$1.30 MX$22.73	+23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 AED3.16	$0.64 MX$11.28	-25.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.78 AED2.88	$0.90 MX$15.73	+14.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 AED2.40	$0.94 MX$16.44	+43.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.94	$0.85 MX$14.94	+61.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 AED1.92	$1.02 MX$17.95	+96.1%
Average			+15.2%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.1% more for transportation

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.82 AED10.37	$5.02 MX$88.13	+77.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$87.13 AED320.00	$27.08 MX$474.95	-68.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,229.41 AED100K	$31,003.27 MX$544K	+13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.71 AED32.00	$25.93 MX$454.78	+197.6%
Average			+55.1%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.9% less for housing

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$98.23 AED360.76	$30.51 MX$535.11	-68.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,362.29 AED8,675.50	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	-54.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,533.56 AED5,632.00	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	-68.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$159.06 AED584.17	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	-59.5%
Average			-62.9%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 69.6% less for childcare

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$823.12 AED3,022.92	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	-75.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,907.17 AED54,746.58	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	-64.0%
Average			-69.6%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.61 AED50.00	$3.12 MX$54.73	-77.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.65 AED20.75	$3.46 MX$60.70	-38.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.13 AED22.50	$4.17 MX$73.14	-31.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$84.61 AED310.71	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	-28.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.98 AED55.00	$4.98 MX$87.43	-66.7%
Average			-48.6%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.5% less for clothing

	Dubai	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.30 AED298.59	$43.98 MX$771.42	-45.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.28 AED232.39	$41.89 MX$734.72	-33.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$129.71 AED476.35	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	-41.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.75 AED458.15	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	-29.0%
Average			-37.5%

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen - 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: July 2026

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