Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Belgium

Brussels vs. Male Cost of Living Summary

Brussels is 70.2% more expensive than Male.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in Brussels
Groceries: pay 23.0% more in Brussels
Transportation: pay 62.1% more in Brussels
Housing: pay 56.8% more in Brussels
Childcare: pay 10.3 times more in Brussels
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.6% more in Brussels
Clothing: pay 70.1% more in Brussels

The cost of childcare, restaurants, clothing, transportation, housing, and groceries in Brussels are more expensive than in Male. Notably, childcare and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Brussels.

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Brussels vs. Male Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Brussels instead of Male, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Male	Brussels
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.80	$22.39 €19.93	+273.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.73 MVR150.49	$15.12 €13.45	+55.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.14	$3.73 €3.32	+129.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$3.11 €2.77	+948.0%
Average			+189.9%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.0% more for groceries

	Male	Brussels
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.58	$2.75 €2.45	+66.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.34 MVR82.48	$8.91 €7.93	+67.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.69 MVR118.88	$5.00 €4.45	-35.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.92 MVR29.72	$5.29 €4.71	+175.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.77 MVR42.75	$5.97 €5.32	+116.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.85	$1.40 €1.24	-22.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.42	$1.09 €0.97	-21.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 MVR28.67	$1.27 €1.13	-31.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.85	$1.87 €1.67	+53.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.93 MVR14.41	$1.14 €1.01	+22.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.86 MVR13.31	$1.00 €0.89	+15.8%
Average			+23.0%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of groceries

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pay 62.1% more for transportation

	Male	Brussels
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.85	$7.99 €7.11	+109.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.54	$62.71 €55.81	+103.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR502K	$35,462.03 €31,562.48	+9.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.88	$21.27 €18.94	+21.4%
Average			+62.1%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.8% more for housing

	Male	Brussels
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	$51.88 €46.18	-28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$951.14 MVR14,704.70	$1,339.95 €1,192.60	+40.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$699.92 MVR10,820.71	$1,154.19 €1,027.27	+64.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$90.98 MVR1,406.51	$215.91 €192.17	+137.3%
Average			+56.8%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of housing

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pay 10.3 times more for childcare

	Male	Brussels
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.98 MVR2,859.75	$1,603.72 €1,427.37	+767.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,004.83 MVR46,454.64	$36,825.21 €32,775.76	+1125.5%
Average			+930.8%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Male	Brussels
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.24	$5.60 €4.98	+15.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.87	$4.44 €3.96	+25.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 MVR230.75	$13.44 €11.96	-10.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	$32.93 €29.31	-53.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.49	$16.68 €14.85	+71.4%
Average			+0.6%

Male vs. Brussels - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 70.1% more for clothing

	Male	Brussels
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.88	$101.94 €90.73	+158.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.64 MVR767.37	$46.03 €40.97	-7.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.13 MVR1,346.98	$109.64 €97.58	+25.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.52 MVR811.92	$146.15 €130.08	+178.3%
Average			+70.1%

Male vs. Brussels - 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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