Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 32.9% cheaper than Iceland overall.

Restaurants: pay 69.4% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 50.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 46.8% less in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 2.8% more in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 12.4% less in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 34.3% less in United Arab Emirates

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

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 69.4% less for restaurants

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.52 ISK3,394	$7.91 AED29.06	-70.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.32 ISK2,728	$8.65 AED31.75	-59.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.11 ISK398	$1.04 AED3.83	-66.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.72 ISK348	$0.50 AED1.85	-81.5%
Average			-69.4%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.5% less for groceries

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.80 ISK487	$1.47 AED5.39	-61.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.44 ISK1,208	$5.36 AED19.68	-43.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.78 ISK996	$6.96 AED25.56	-10.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.71 ISK859	$2.81 AED10.34	-58.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$11.22 ISK1,436	$3.68 AED13.51	-67.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.50 ISK191	$0.98 AED3.59	-34.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.15 ISK147	$0.75 AED2.75	-34.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.41 ISK181	$0.73 AED2.69	-48.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.34 ISK300	$0.59 AED2.15	-75.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.65 ISK211	$0.48 AED1.76	-70.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.09 ISK140	$0.53 AED1.93	-51.8%
Average			-50.5%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.8% less for transportation

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.65 ISK1,235	$2.91 AED10.69	-69.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$79.56 ISK10,182	$53.10 AED195.00	-33.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,144.25 ISK6,289,481	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	-17.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.55 ISK3,270	$8.50 AED31.21	-66.7%
Average			-46.8%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8% more for housing

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$95.65 ISK12,241	$101.41 AED372.42	+6.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,289.17 ISK292,968	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	-37.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,830.04 ISK234,209	$990.79 AED3,638.67	-45.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.15 ISK8,338	$122.67 AED450.49	+88.3%
Average			+2.8%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 12.4% less for childcare

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$334.67 ISK42,830	$497.28 AED1,826.25	+48.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,711.08 ISK3,930,404	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-73.4%
Average			-12.4%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.14 ISK1,426	$10.43 AED38.31	-6.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.62 ISK720	$4.99 AED18.32	-11.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.90 ISK1,778	$6.23 AED22.88	-55.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$78.17 ISK10,004	$75.55 AED277.45	-3.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.75 ISK2,144	$13.19 AED48.44	-21.3%
Average			-19.5%

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

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pay 34.3% less for clothing

	Iceland	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$130.91 ISK16,753	$75.04 AED275.58	-42.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.83 ISK7,913	$59.50 AED218.51	-3.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$163.81 ISK20,965	$105.66 AED388.03	-35.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$237.31 ISK30,371	$106.53 AED391.23	-55.1%
Average			-34.3%

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates - 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: December 2025

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