Cost of living comparison

Malta

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Al Ain vs. Msida Cost of Living Summary

Al Ain is 17.1% cheaper than Msida.

Restaurants: pay 36.8% less in Al Ain
Groceries: pay 22.5% less in Al Ain
Transportation: pay 39.7% less in Al Ain
Housing: pay 9.1% less in Al Ain
Childcare: pay 2.6% more in Al Ain
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.4% more in Al Ain
Clothing: pay 13.5% less in Al Ain

The cost of entertainment and sports and childcare in Al Ain are more expensive than in Msida. Expenses including transportation, restaurants, groceries, clothing, and housing are lower in Al Ain.

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Al Ain vs. Msida Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Al Ain instead of Msida, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.8% less for restaurants

	Msida	Al Ain
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.20 €10.16	$8.17 AED30.00	-27.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.92 €9.90	$8.58 AED31.50	-21.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 €2.03	$0.72 AED2.65	-67.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.12 €1.02	$0.34 AED1.25	-69.6%
Average			-36.8%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.5% less for groceries

	Msida	Al Ain
Bread 1 loaf	$1.33 €1.21	$1.62 AED5.94	+21.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 €3.74	$4.76 AED17.50	+15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.32 €3.92	$6.79 AED24.92	+56.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.69 €2.44	$2.83 AED10.39	+5.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.73 €4.29	$4.40 AED16.17	-7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.90 €1.72	$1.12 AED4.13	-40.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.14	$0.92 AED3.38	-26.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64 €1.48	$0.84 AED3.09	-48.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 €1.38	$0.71 AED2.60	-53.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.13 €1.02	$0.52 AED1.93	-53.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.83	$0.53 AED1.96	-41.6%
Average			-22.5%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.7% less for transportation

	Msida	Al Ain
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.68 €5.15	$3.37 AED12.37	-40.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$24.50 AED90.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,847.06 €34,332.96	$29,949.09 AED110K	-20.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.51 €21.33	$6.67 AED24.50	-71.6%
Average			-39.7%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.1% less for housing

	Msida	Al Ain
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.99 €25.39	$88.30 AED324.32	+215.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,049.75 €952.28	$707.89 AED2,600.07	-32.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$906.99 €822.77	$816.48 AED2,998.91	-10.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.68 €57.77	$86.71 AED318.50	+36.2%
Average			-9.1%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6% more for childcare

	Msida	Al Ain
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$367.05 €332.97	$571.30 AED2,098.39	+55.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,132.13 €10,098.51	$7,532.65 AED27,667.42	-32.3%
Average			+2.6%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Msida	Al Ain
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.53 €4.11	$8.17 AED30.00	+80.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.22 €2.01	$4.67 AED17.17	+110.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.78 €6.15	$6.26 AED23.00	-7.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.99 €50.79	$57.29 AED210.42	+2.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.08 €9.14	$13.61 AED50.00	+35.1%
Average			+40.4%

Msida vs. Al Ain - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.5% less for clothing

	Msida	Al Ain
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €79.23	$44.24 AED162.50	-49.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.59 €36.82	$49.09 AED180.32	+21.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.84 €90.57	$70.11 AED257.51	-29.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.38 €71.10	$102.10 AED375.01	+30.3%
Average			-13.5%

Msida vs. Al Ain - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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