Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Al Ain vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Al Ain is 57.2% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Al Ain
Groceries: pay 24.6% more in Al Ain
Transportation: pay 19.2% more in Al Ain
Housing: pay 82.1% more in Al Ain
Childcare: pay 35.5% less in Al Ain
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.7 times more in Al Ain
Clothing: pay 0.1% more in Al Ain

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Al Ain are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Al Ain.

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Al Ain vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Al Ain instead of Ho Chi Minh City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$8.17 AED30.00	+324.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$8.58 AED31.50	+85.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.72 AED2.65	+34.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.34 AED1.25	+2.6%
Average			+145.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.6% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.62 AED5.94	+50.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$4.76 AED17.50	-21.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$6.79 AED24.92	+10.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.83 AED10.39	+74.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$4.40 AED16.16	+167.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$1.12 AED4.13	-17.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.92 AED3.38	+59.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.84 AED3.09	+16.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.71 AED2.60	+22.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.52 AED1.93	-3.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.53 AED1.96	+1.1%
Average			+24.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.2% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$3.37 AED12.37	-5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$24.50 AED89.99	+112.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$29,949.09 AED110K	-2.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$6.67 AED24.50	+15.0%
Average			+19.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.1% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$88.30 AED324.28	+744.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$707.89 AED2,599.72	+20.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$816.48 AED2,998.51	+174.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$86.71 AED318.46	+9.4%
Average			+82.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of housing

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pay 35.5% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$571.30 AED2,098.11	+30.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$7,532.65 AED27,663.65	-68.0%
Average			-35.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.7 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$8.17 AED30.00	+690.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$4.67 AED17.16	+157.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$6.26 AED23.00	+408.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$57.29 AED210.39	+121.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$13.61 AED49.99	+293.0%
Average			+269.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.1% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Al Ain
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$44.24 AED162.48	-14.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$49.09 AED180.30	+41.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$70.11 AED257.47	-23.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$102.10 AED374.96	+7.9%
Average			+0.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Al Ain - 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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