Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Singapore

Singapore vs. Dubai Cost of Living Summary

Singapore is 35.0% more expensive than Dubai.

Restaurants: pay 2.4% less in Singapore
Groceries: pay 67.0% more in Singapore
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Singapore
Housing: pay 11.4% more in Singapore
Childcare: pay 64.4% more in Singapore
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.7% less in Singapore
Clothing: pay 9.9% more in Singapore

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

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Singapore vs. Dubai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4% less for restaurants

	Dubai	Singapore
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.80 AED46.99	$11.72 SGD15.02	-8.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 AED35.00	$8.59 SGD11.01	-9.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67 AED6.12	$1.81 SGD2.32	+8.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 AED2.89	$1.22 SGD1.56	+54.4%
Average			-2.4%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of restaurants

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pay 67.0% more for groceries

	Dubai	Singapore
Bread 1 loaf	$1.54 AED5.66	$2.52 SGD3.23	+63.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.21 AED22.81	$10.61 SGD13.60	+70.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.92 AED25.40	$11.31 SGD14.49	+63.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.34 AED12.26	$3.63 SGD4.66	+8.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.36 AED16.00	$4.43 SGD5.67	+1.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 AED4.39	$2.04 SGD2.62	+71.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 AED3.23	$1.39 SGD1.78	+57.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.85 AED3.12	$2.11 SGD2.70	+147.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 AED2.34	$1.00 SGD1.29	+57.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 AED1.89	$1.15 SGD1.48	+123.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 AED1.67	$1.07 SGD1.37	+136.3%
Average			+67.0%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Dubai	Singapore
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.66 AED13.44	$9.42 SGD12.07	+157.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.87 AED274.97	$95.32 SGD122.14	+27.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,226.44 AED99,989.11	$158K SGD202K	+479.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.86 AED32.56	$9.84 SGD12.61	+11.0%
Average			+153.1%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.4% more for housing

	Dubai	Singapore
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$92.93 AED341.28	$26.68 SGD34.19	-71.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,407.39 AED8,841.14	$2,972.36 SGD3,808.76	+23.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,513.73 AED5,559.16	$2,133.71 SGD2,734.12	+41.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$187.87 AED689.96	$133.12 SGD170.58	-29.1%
Average			+11.4%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of housing

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pay 64.4% more for childcare

	Dubai	Singapore
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$859.15 AED3,155.21	$1,466.84 SGD1,879.60	+70.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,941.05 AED65,888.51	$28,413.66 SGD36,409.09	+58.4%
Average			+64.4%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Dubai	Singapore
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$13.61 AED49.99	$8.20 SGD10.51	-39.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.96 AED21.89	$5.19 SGD6.65	-12.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.99 AED22.00	$14.06 SGD18.02	+134.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$99.96 AED367.10	$110.24 SGD141.26	+10.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.34 AED59.99	$11.72 SGD15.02	-28.3%
Average			-9.7%

Dubai vs. Singapore - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.9% more for clothing

	Dubai	Singapore
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.92 AED249.45	$80.66 SGD103.36	+18.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.98 AED209.24	$50.96 SGD65.30	-10.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.70 AED377.18	$110.36 SGD141.41	+7.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.57 AED365.67	$127.45 SGD163.31	+28.0%
Average			+9.9%

Dubai vs. Singapore - 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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