Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Dubai is 88.4% more expensive than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 20.0% less in Dubai
Groceries: pay 2.5% less in Dubai
Transportation: pay 24.9% more in Dubai
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Dubai
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Dubai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Dubai
Clothing: pay 62.0% more in Dubai

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

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Dubai vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dubai instead of Playa del Carmen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.0% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.90 MX$208.65	$10.89 AED40.00	-8.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$189.98	$9.53 AED35.00	-12.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$28.48	$1.19 AED4.37	-26.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$23.54	$0.90 AED3.31	-32.8%
Average			-20.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 MX$34.69	$1.41 AED5.18	-28.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.33 MX$75.99	$5.45 AED20.01	+25.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$96.44	$7.12 AED26.15	+29.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$39.77	$3.39 AED12.43	+49.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.76 MX$65.94	$4.21 AED15.45	+11.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$22.73	$1.05 AED3.86	-18.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MX$11.28	$0.86 AED3.16	+33.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$15.73	$0.78 AED2.88	-12.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$16.44	$0.65 AED2.40	-30.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$14.94	$0.53 AED1.94	-37.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$17.95	$0.52 AED1.92	-49.0%
Average			-2.5%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.9% more for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$88.13	$2.82 AED10.37	-43.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$474.95	$87.13 AED320.00	+221.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$544K	$27,229.41 AED100K	-12.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$454.78	$8.71 AED32.00	-66.4%
Average			+24.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.51 MX$535.11	$98.23 AED360.76	+222.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	$2,362.29 AED8,675.50	+120.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	$1,533.56 AED5,632.00	+216.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	$159.06 AED584.17	+147.0%
Average			+176.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of housing

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pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	$823.12 AED3,022.92	+302.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	$14,907.17 AED54,746.58	+178.1%
Average			+240.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$54.73	$13.61 AED50.00	+336.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$60.70	$5.65 AED20.75	+63.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.17 MX$73.14	$6.13 AED22.50	+46.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	$84.61 AED310.71	+39.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MX$87.43	$14.98 AED55.00	+200.5%
Average			+137.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 62.0% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Dubai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.98 MX$771.42	$81.30 AED298.59	+84.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.89 MX$734.72	$63.28 AED232.39	+51.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	$129.71 AED476.35	+71.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	$124.75 AED458.15	+40.8%
Average			+62.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Dubai - 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: July 2026

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