Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 14.6% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 71.7% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 20.4% less in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 8.8% more in Bucharest
Housing: pay 38.3% less in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 29.6% more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.1% less in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 7.8% less in Bucharest

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

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Bucharest vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 71.7% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$14.64 RON69.25	+83.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$7.32 RON34.63	-8.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$2.42 RON11.44	+176.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$2.25 RON10.65	+618.3%
Average			+71.7%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.4% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.32 RON6.24	+2.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$4.36 RON20.63	-17.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$6.22 RON29.40	-8.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$3.67 RON17.35	+19.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$3.05 RON14.45	-29.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$0.57 RON2.70	-56.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.72 RON3.43	-17.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.69 RON3.25	-38.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.15 RON5.42	+43.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.36 RON1.73	-32.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.34 RON1.62	-41.9%
Average			-20.4%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.8% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$7.45 RON35.25	+217.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$20.91 RON98.93	-43.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$28,531.98 RON135K	-17.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$5.65 RON26.71	-68.8%
Average			+8.8%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.3% less for housing

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$9.27 RON43.83	-87.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$677.15 RON3,203.34	-42.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$451.32 RON2,135.02	-45.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$147.83 RON699.33	+80.6%
Average			-38.3%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 29.6% more for childcare

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$627.11 RON2,966.59	+18.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	+42.2%
Average			+29.6%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$3.76 RON17.81	+76.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$3.51 RON16.59	-18.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$6.43 RON30.42	-16.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$49.22 RON232.83	-45.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$8.37 RON39.57	-37.2%
Average			-19.1%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.8% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$88.76 RON419.90	+52.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$38.43 RON181.80	-29.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$77.83 RON368.20	-24.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$91.69 RON433.74	-11.8%
Average			-7.8%

Riyadh vs. Bucharest - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Riyadh is about 8 times bigger than Bucharest.

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