Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Kazakhstan

Almaty vs. Mecca Cost of Living Summary

Almaty is 24.7% more expensive than Mecca.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Almaty
Groceries: pay 9.5% more in Almaty
Transportation: pay 30.8% less in Almaty
Housing: pay 47.4% more in Almaty
Childcare: pay 33.2% less in Almaty
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.2% less in Almaty
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in Almaty

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

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Almaty vs. Mecca Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Almaty instead of Mecca, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Mecca	Almaty
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.53 SAR17.00	$13.42 KZT6,099.57	+196.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.93 SAR25.99	$8.95 KZT4,066.38	+29.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 SAR2.60	$1.36 KZT617.13	+96.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.24 SAR0.90	$0.91 KZT412.02	+278.0%
Average			+117.8%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.5% more for groceries

	Mecca	Almaty
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 SAR3.67	$0.94 KZT426.37	-4.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.98 SAR11.16	$6.46 KZT2,933.52	+116.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 SAR24.36	$6.48 KZT2,946.83	-0.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.46 SAR9.23	$2.45 KZT1,113.01	-0.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 SAR13.92	$3.09 KZT1,405.42	-16.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 SAR3.48	$0.86 KZT388.80	-7.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 SAR2.72	$1.06 KZT482.99	+46.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.71 SAR2.67	$1.37 KZT623.28	+92.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 SAR2.57	$1.34 KZT607.00	+95.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.52 SAR1.95	$0.35 KZT161.04	-31.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.17	$0.26 KZT119.57	-54.4%
Average			+9.5%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.8% less for transportation

	Mecca	Almaty
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$2.64 KZT1,201.50	+12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$22.15 KZT10,064.29
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$47,965.95 SAR180K	$22,370.46 KZT10M	-53.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.26 SAR60.99	$6.71 KZT3,049.79	-58.7%
Average			-30.8%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.4% more for housing

	Mecca	Almaty
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.84 SAR235.78	$18.11 KZT8,230.36	-71.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$524.96 SAR1,969.59	$802.28 KZT365K	+52.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$286.20 SAR1,073.77	$513.47 KZT233K	+79.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$50.94 SAR191.14	$69.56 KZT31,612.36	+36.5%
Average			+47.4%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of housing

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pay 33.2% less for childcare

	Mecca	Almaty
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$760.49 SAR2,853.27	$456.34 KZT207K	-40.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,442.55 SAR61,690.38	$12,216.13 KZT6M	-25.7%
Average			-33.2%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Mecca	Almaty
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.53 SAR5.75	$3.24 KZT1,474.06	+111.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 SAR9.74	$3.30 KZT1,501.79	+27.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.66 SAR24.99	$2.63 KZT1,194.50	-60.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$81.01 SAR303.94	$70.49 KZT32,033.34	-13.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.99 SAR44.99	$6.71 KZT3,049.79	-44.0%
Average			-7.2%

Mecca vs. Almaty - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Mecca	Almaty
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.32 SAR49.99	$96.07 KZT43,657.12	+621.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.02 SAR213.95	$47.45 KZT21,560.94	-16.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$39.97 SAR149.97	$145.68 KZT66,202.14	+264.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$53.30 SAR199.96	$134.22 KZT60,995.72	+151.8%
Average			+172.4%

Mecca vs. Almaty - 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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