Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Mecca Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 20.0% more expensive than Mecca.

Restaurants: pay 96.3% more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 14.6% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 12.4% more in Chisinau
Housing: pay 45.7% more in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 55.0% less in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.5% less in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Chisinau

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

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Chisinau vs. Mecca Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 96.3% more for restaurants

	Mecca	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.53 SAR17.00	$11.22 MDL201.58	+147.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.93 SAR26.00	$8.70 MDL156.22	+25.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 SAR2.60	$1.21 MDL21.71	+74.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.24 SAR0.90	$0.89 MDL16.00	+271.3%
Average			+96.3%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.6% less for groceries

	Mecca	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 SAR3.67	$0.71 MDL12.77	-27.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.98 SAR11.17	$4.89 MDL87.82	+64.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 SAR24.37	$4.73 MDL85.03	-27.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.46 SAR9.23	$2.79 MDL50.06	+13.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 SAR13.92	$2.36 MDL42.34	-36.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 SAR3.48	$0.44 MDL7.87	-52.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 SAR2.72	$0.87 MDL15.68	+20.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.71 SAR2.67	$0.94 MDL16.87	+31.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 SAR2.57	$1.01 MDL18.06	+46.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.52 SAR1.95	$0.31 MDL5.61	-39.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.17	$0.25 MDL4.42	-57.4%
Average			-14.6%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.4% more for transportation

	Mecca	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$6.44 MDL115.64	+173.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$13.52 MDL242.90
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$47,965.95 SAR180K	$29,507.41 MDL530K	-38.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.26 SAR61.00	$4.94 MDL88.69	-69.6%
Average			+12.4%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.7% more for housing

	Mecca	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.84 SAR235.84	$10.59 MDL190.33	-83.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$524.96 SAR1,970.09	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	+29.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$286.20 SAR1,074.05	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	+52.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$50.94 SAR191.19	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	+264.8%
Average			+45.7%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 55.0% less for childcare

	Mecca	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$760.49 SAR2,854.01	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	-42.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,442.55 SAR61,706.21	$5,841.67 MDL105K	-64.5%
Average			-55.0%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Mecca	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.53 SAR5.75	$2.24 MDL40.32	+46.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 SAR9.74	$2.16 MDL38.87	-16.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.66 SAR25.00	$3.42 MDL61.48	-48.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$81.01 SAR304.01	$41.67 MDL748.71	-48.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.99 SAR45.00	$8.41 MDL151.18	-29.8%
Average			-24.5%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Mecca	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.32 SAR50.00	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	+498.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.02 SAR214.00	$47.07 MDL845.61	-17.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$39.97 SAR150.01	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	+185.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$53.30 SAR200.01	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	+116.8%
Average			+135.2%

Mecca vs. Chisinau - 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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