Cost of living comparison

Qatar

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Qatar Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 12.3% more expensive than Qatar overall.

Restaurants: pay 93.2% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 79.9% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 71.5% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 31.5% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 24.4% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 43.3% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 31.7% more in Costa Rica

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

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Costa Rica vs. Qatar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Qatar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 93.2% more for restaurants

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.49 QAR23.79	$11.15 CRC5,065.90	+71.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.14 QAR26.13	$10.85 CRC4,929.68	+52.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 QAR3.08	$2.43 CRC1,104.76	+189.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 QAR1.29	$1.79 CRC811.81	+406.7%
Average			+93.2%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 79.9% more for groceries

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.38 QAR5.06	$2.77 CRC1,260.00	+100.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.99 QAR14.63	$4.82 CRC2,189.71	+20.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.97 QAR29.21	$8.37 CRC3,803.18	+5.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.27 QAR11.97	$3.63 CRC1,651.36	+11.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.56 QAR13.02	$4.40 CRC1,999.79	+23.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 QAR3.41	$2.20 CRC1,001.55	+136.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 QAR2.77	$0.73 CRC329.49	-4.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 QAR2.48	$1.67 CRC757.00	+146.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 QAR2.00	$1.43 CRC651.28	+163.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 QAR1.44	$1.44 CRC654.20	+265.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.39 QAR1.43	$1.33 CRC603.03	+239.9%
Average			+79.9%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.5% more for transportation

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.14 QAR7.82	$5.78 CRC2,627.62	+170.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.33 QAR85.44	$66.80 CRC30,356.83	+186.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,978.05 QAR102K	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-18.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.58 QAR64.40	$15.71 CRC7,138.64	-10.6%
Average			+71.5%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.5% less for housing

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$86.45 QAR316.63	$51.66 CRC23,474.98	-40.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,433.67 QAR5,251.26	$834.08 CRC379K	-41.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$856.18 QAR3,135.99	$597.43 CRC271K	-30.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.24 QAR238.97	$68.56 CRC31,155.33	+5.1%
Average			-31.5%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 24.4% more for childcare

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$670.94 QAR2,457.53	$742.27 CRC337K	+10.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,605.02 QAR35,181.22	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+39.9%
Average			+24.4%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 43.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.34 QAR41.55	$2.91 CRC1,321.12	-74.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.19 QAR19.02	$4.06 CRC1,844.61	-21.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.67 QAR20.77	$5.29 CRC2,405.88	-6.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$119.62 QAR438.15	$66.37 CRC30,158.01	-44.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.43 QAR41.88	$7.92 CRC3,598.41	-30.7%
Average			-43.3%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.7% more for clothing

	Qatar	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.75 QAR163.90	$67.50 CRC30,671.17	+50.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.52 QAR155.75	$49.52 CRC22,504.45	+16.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.38 QAR360.34	$122.64 CRC55,728.04	+24.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$79.08 QAR289.64	$108.52 CRC49,315.19	+37.2%
Average			+31.7%

Qatar vs. Costa Rica - 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

Compare further: Qatar vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 52.6 times more likely to be unemployed in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Qatar is about 4.4 times smaller than Costa Rica.

Moving from Qatar to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

3 people born in Qatar live in Costa Rica.

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