Cost of living comparison
compared to
Abu Dhabi vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary
Abu Dhabi is 3.7 times more expensive than P'yongyang.
- Restaurants
-
pay 53.5% less in Abu Dhabi
- Groceries
-
pay 48.0% more in Abu Dhabi
- Housing
-
pay 10.1 times more in Abu Dhabi
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 2.9 times more in Abu Dhabi
The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Abu Dhabi are more expensive than in P'yongyang. Notably, housing and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of P'yongyang, you would:
pay 53.5% less for restaurants
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant | ?? |
$10.89
AED40.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
?? |
$9.53
AED35.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.34
KPW2,102
|
$1.29
AED4.74
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.17
KPW1,051
|
$0.44
AED1.61
|
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants
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pay 48.0% more for groceries
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.40
KPW2,161
|
$1.60
AED5.89
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) | ?? |
$5.28
AED19.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.70
KPW3,332
|
$7.50
AED27.54
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.08
KPW1,876
|
$3.64
AED13.37
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | ?? |
$4.12
AED15.11
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.15
AED4.21
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.82
AED3.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.83
AED3.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.67
AED2.46
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.53
AED1.96
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.65
AED2.39
|
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries
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pay (unknown) more for transportation
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | ?? |
$2.94
AED10.80
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$25.87
AED95.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$44,639.07
AED163,937.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$7.62
AED28.00
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation
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pay 10.1 times more for housing
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$100.96
AED370.79
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$93.44
KPW84,095
|
$1,490.68
AED5,474.52
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$262.80
KPW236,518
|
$1,109.19
AED4,073.48
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$115.93
AED425.75
|
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing
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pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$625.43
AED2,296.88
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$12,786.81
AED46,959.57
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare
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pay 2.9 times more for entertainment and sports
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$14.02
KPW12,614
|
$11.29
AED41.45
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.17
KPW1,051
|
$5.77
AED21.18
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$6.26
AED23.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$62.90
AED230.98
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$13.61
AED50.00
|
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports
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pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
P'yongyang
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$60.62
AED222.62
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$51.93
AED190.71
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$98.09
AED360.23
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$96.21
AED353.33
|
P'yongyang vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of clothing
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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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cost of living in North Korea vs. United Arab Emirates.
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