Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Saudi Arabia is 10.9% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 21.7% more in Saudi Arabia
Groceries: pay 24.5% more in Saudi Arabia
Transportation: pay 11.0% more in Saudi Arabia
Housing: pay 13.7% less in Saudi Arabia
Childcare: pay 6.5% less in Saudi Arabia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.6 times more in Saudi Arabia
Clothing: pay 2.0% more in Saudi Arabia

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

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Saudi Arabia vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saudi Arabia instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.7% more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$6.43 SAR24.15	+60.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$7.60 SAR28.53	+17.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.77 SAR2.90	+27.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.25 SAR0.94	-61.9%
Average			+21.7%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.5% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$0.98 SAR3.69	-17.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$3.80 SAR14.25	+2.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$6.70 SAR25.16	+63.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$2.67 SAR10.01	+50.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$3.42 SAR12.84	-25.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$0.98 SAR3.66	-60.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.78 SAR2.93	+162.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$0.80 SAR2.99	-19.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.75 SAR2.81	+142.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.62 SAR2.32	+180.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.60 SAR2.27	+24.0%
Average			+24.5%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.0% more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$2.35 SAR8.83	-33.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$35.96 SAR134.94	+70.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$44,549.24 SAR167K	-19.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$20.52 SAR77.00	+482.1%
Average			+11.0%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.7% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$68.86 SAR258.41	-67.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$633.54 SAR2,377.57	-10.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$465.22 SAR1,745.88	+17.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$73.68 SAR276.52	-53.0%
Average			-13.7%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of housing

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pay 6.5% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$419.94 SAR1,575.96	+207.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$8,565.65 SAR32,145.50	-71.6%
Average			-6.5%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$1.91 SAR7.18	+139.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$3.43 SAR12.86	+272.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$6.94 SAR26.04	-13.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$98.19 SAR368.47	+122.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$15.24 SAR57.19	+306.4%
Average			+164.8%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0% more for clothing

	Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$44.17 SAR165.75	+33.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$55.80 SAR209.42	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$89.45 SAR335.69	+13.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$74.85 SAR280.89	-9.5%
Average			+2.0%

Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia - 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

Compare further: Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Saudi Arabia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 37.0 times more money in Saudi Arabia

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 1.9 times smaller than Saudi Arabia.

Moving from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia · UN DESA 2020

164,250 people born in Ethiopia live in Saudi Arabia.

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