Cost of living comparison

Iceland

compared to

United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 44.9% cheaper than Iceland overall.

Restaurants: pay 69.8% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 54.0% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 48.4% less in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 27.6% less in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 58.7% less in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.6% less in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 47.0% less in United Arab Emirates

Expenses including restaurants, childcare, groceries, transportation, clothing, and housing are lower in United Arab Emirates.

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United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Arab Emirates instead of Iceland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.8% less for restaurants

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$28.88 ISK3,499	$8.43 AED30.94	-70.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$22.83 ISK2,767	$8.55 AED31.39	-62.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.25 ISK393	$1.07 AED3.94	-66.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.01 ISK365	$0.45 AED1.66	-85.0%
Average			-69.8%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.0% less for groceries

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.55 ISK431	$1.46 AED5.38	-58.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.11 ISK1,226	$4.94 AED18.13	-51.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ISK944	$6.75 AED24.78	-13.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.92 ISK839	$2.80 AED10.28	-59.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$11.01 ISK1,334	$3.68 AED13.51	-66.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 ISK173	$0.97 AED3.58	-31.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.23 ISK148	$0.76 AED2.80	-37.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.42 ISK172	$0.72 AED2.65	-49.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.60 ISK315	$0.58 AED2.13	-77.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.71 ISK207	$0.48 AED1.75	-72.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.76 ISK92	$0.47 AED1.74	-37.3%
Average			-54.0%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.4% less for transportation

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.09 ISK980	$3.40 AED12.50	-57.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.58 ISK9,765	$49.01 AED179.98	-39.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$48,967.53 ISK6M	$33,745.09 AED124K	-31.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.24 ISK3,179	$7.71 AED28.30	-70.6%
Average			-48.4%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.6% less for housing

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$98.24 ISK11,905	$87.46 AED321.19	-11.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,335.24 ISK283K	$1,419.61 AED5,213.52	-39.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,824.40 ISK221K	$1,087.32 AED3,993.18	-40.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.34 ISK8,766	$131.39 AED482.53	+81.6%
Average			-27.6%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 58.7% less for childcare

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$833.66 ISK101K	$481.84 AED1,769.57	-42.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,752.37 ISK3M	$8,191.72 AED30,084.11	-70.5%
Average			-58.7%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.37 ISK1,378	$10.81 AED39.72	-4.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.90 ISK715	$4.99 AED18.33	-15.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.85 ISK1,679	$6.20 AED22.77	-55.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$83.64 ISK10,136	$69.98 AED256.99	-16.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.92 ISK2,171	$13.30 AED48.83	-25.8%
Average			-21.6%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.0% less for clothing

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$134.47 ISK16,295	$53.49 AED196.43	-60.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.25 ISK7,664	$52.36 AED192.30	-17.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$159.03 ISK19,271	$95.31 AED350.04	-40.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$237.19 ISK28,742	$94.82 AED348.22	-60.0%
Average			-47.0%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - 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: Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 48.9% less money in United Arab Emirates

Size Comparison · See true size

Iceland is about 1.2 times bigger than United Arab Emirates.

Moving from Iceland to United Arab Emirates · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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