Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beirut vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 11.5% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Beirut
Groceries: pay 13.4% less in Beirut
Transportation: pay 38.6% more in Beirut
Housing: pay 15.0% less in Beirut
Childcare: pay 29.2% less in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.4% less in Beirut
Clothing: pay 1.9% less in Beirut

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

Beirut vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00 SAR30.03	$10.82 LBP967K	+35.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00 SAR30.03	$8.00 LBP715K
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 SAR2.82	$1.76 LBP157K	+133.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 SAR1.10	$0.76 LBP68,171	+161.1%
Average			+110.0%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.4% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$1.31 SAR4.91	$0.75 LBP66,902	-42.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.27 SAR16.02	$5.06 LBP453K	+18.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.23 SAR23.40	$6.20 LBP554K	-0.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 SAR10.54	$3.05 LBP273K	+8.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 SAR17.54	$4.28 LBP383K	-8.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 SAR3.86	$0.92 LBP81,817	-10.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SAR2.87	$0.66 LBP59,310	-13.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 SAR3.07	$0.60 LBP53,869	-26.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 SAR2.63	$0.51 LBP45,188	-27.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.18	$0.42 LBP37,208	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 SAR2.49	$0.55 LBP49,244	-16.8%
Average			-13.4%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.6% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.31 SAR8.66	$3.51 LBP313K	+52.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.33 SAR140.15	$72.50 LBP6M	+94.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,328.67 SAR125K	$35,000.00 LBP3B	+5.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.40 SAR69.08	$19.00 LBP2M	+3.3%
Average			+38.6%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.0% less for housing

	Riyadh	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.49 SAR279.70	$37.92 LBP3M	-49.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,119.84 SAR4,204.63	$842.31 LBP75M	-24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$846.11 SAR3,176.85	$372.22 LBP33M	-56.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.07 SAR308.16	$139.38 LBP12M	+69.8%
Average			-15.0%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.2% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.83 SAR1,734.00	$362.50 LBP32M	-21.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,810.75 SAR36,835.99	$6,187.50 LBP553M	-36.9%
Average			-29.2%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.01	$4.00 LBP358K	+114.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 SAR15.40	$3.28 LBP294K	-19.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.33 SAR27.53	$2.55 LBP228K	-65.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$104.43 SAR392.10	$66.33 LBP6M	-36.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.33 SAR57.56	$10.00 LBP894K	-34.8%
Average			-8.4%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.9% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.01 SAR221.56	$59.38 LBP5M	+0.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$64.27 SAR241.32	$50.00 LBP4M	-22.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.52 SAR414.96	$120.56 LBP11M	+9.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.25 SAR368.91	$102.86 LBP9M	+4.7%
Average			-1.9%

Riyadh vs. Beirut - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: March 2026

More cost comparisons

Riyadh vs.

Moscow

Riyadh vs.

Phnom Penh

Riyadh vs.

Manila

Riyadh vs.

Berlin

Riyadh vs.

Ankara

Riyadh vs.

Washington

Riyadh vs.

Lima

Riyadh vs.

Athens

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Saudi Arabia vs. Lebanon. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Riyadh

Add prices for Beirut

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Beirut or Riyadh. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.