Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Lebanon

Beirut vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 6.1% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 58.6% more in Beirut
Groceries: pay 3.7% less in Beirut
Transportation: pay 69.3% more in Beirut
Housing: pay 19.3% less in Beirut
Childcare: pay 16.3% more in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% more in Beirut
Clothing: pay 13.3% more in Beirut

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

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Beirut vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beirut instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.6% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$12.00 LBP1M	+50.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$10.00 LBP896K	+25.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$2.33 LBP209K	+166.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.87 LBP78,113	+178.2%
Average			+58.6%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.7% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$0.88 LBP78,624	-31.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$5.54 LBP496K	+5.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$7.42 LBP664K	+9.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$3.57 LBP320K	+15.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$4.81 LBP431K	+10.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.39 LBP124K	+6.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.76 LBP68,245	-12.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.75 LBP66,945	-33.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$0.68 LBP60,933	-14.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.56 LBP50,168	+3.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.71 LBP63,835	+21.0%
Average			-3.7%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

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pay 69.3% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$4.04 LBP362K	+72.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$77.50 LBP7M	+107.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$53,500.00 LBP5B	+54.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$23.00 LBP2M	+26.9%
Average			+69.3%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.3% less for housing

	Riyadh	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$37.98 LBP3M	-47.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$943.80 LBP85M	-20.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$496.60 LBP44M	-40.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$177.50 LBP16M	+116.8%
Average			-19.3%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

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pay 16.3% more for childcare

	Riyadh	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$681.75 LBP61M	+28.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$10,643.75 LBP953M	+5.3%
Average			+16.3%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$5.00 LBP448K	+134.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$4.54 LBP407K	+6.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$3.00 LBP269K	-61.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$85.00 LBP8M	-5.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$10.00 LBP896K	-24.9%
Average			+0.2%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.3% more for clothing

	Riyadh	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$67.62 LBP6M	+16.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$49.29 LBP4M	-9.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$138.89 LBP12M	+35.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$120.00 LBP11M	+15.5%
Average			+13.3%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - 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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