Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Saudi Arabia is 14.4% cheaper than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 13.1% less in Saudi Arabia
Groceries: pay 20.9% less in Saudi Arabia
Transportation: pay 1.9% less in Saudi Arabia
Housing: pay 33.6% less in Saudi Arabia
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Saudi Arabia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.8% less in Saudi Arabia
Clothing: pay 16.5% more in Saudi Arabia

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

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Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.1% less for restaurants

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.80	$6.43 SAR24.15	+7.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.98	$7.60 SAR28.53	-20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.14	$0.77 SAR2.90	-52.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$0.25 SAR0.94	-15.7%
Average			-13.1%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.9% less for groceries

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.58	$0.98 SAR3.69	-40.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.78	$3.80 SAR14.25	+9.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.59	$6.70 SAR25.16	-1.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.90	$2.67 SAR10.01	+42.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.75	$3.42 SAR12.84	+23.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.85	$0.98 SAR3.66	-45.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.41	$0.78 SAR2.93	-43.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.57	$0.80 SAR2.99	-49.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.85	$0.75 SAR2.81	-38.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.64	$0.62 SAR2.32	-18.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.64	$0.60 SAR2.27	-12.1%
Average			-20.9%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.9% less for transportation

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.84	$2.35 SAR8.83	-38.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.54	$35.96 SAR134.94	+16.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR502K	$44,549.24 SAR167K	+37.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.88	$20.52 SAR77.00	+17.1%
Average			-1.9%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.6% less for housing

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	$68.86 SAR258.41	-5.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,130.74	$633.54 SAR2,377.57	-39.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,429.82	$465.22 SAR1,745.88	-37.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,317.00	$73.68 SAR276.52	-13.5%
Average			-33.6%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,858.87	$419.94 SAR1,575.96	+127.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,439.89	$8,565.65 SAR32,145.50	+185.2%
Average			+154.5%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.24	$1.91 SAR7.18	-60.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.86	$3.43 SAR12.86	-3.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.70	$6.94 SAR26.04	-50.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	$98.19 SAR368.47	+38.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.49	$15.24 SAR57.19	+56.6%
Average			-6.8%

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.5% more for clothing

	Maldives	Saudi Arabia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.80	$44.17 SAR165.75	+11.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR767.27	$55.80 SAR209.42	+12.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,346.76	$89.45 SAR335.69	+2.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.70	$74.85 SAR280.89	+42.6%
Average			+16.5%

Maldives 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: Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Saudi Arabia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 2.4 times more money in Saudi Arabia

Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 7,214 times smaller than Saudi Arabia.

Moving from Maldives to Saudi Arabia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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