Cost of living comparison

compared to

Damascus vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Damascus is 10.8% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 79.4% more in Damascus
Groceries: pay 43.1% less in Damascus
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Damascus
Housing: pay 37.1% less in Damascus
Childcare: pay 86.0% less in Damascus
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.2% less in Damascus
Clothing: pay 31.9% less in Damascus

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

Damascus vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 79.4% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Damascus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00 SAR30.00	$8.00 SYP104,016
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00 SAR30.00	$6.00 SYP78,012	-25.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 SAR2.82	$1.37 SYP17,769	+81.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 SAR1.10	$0.82 SYP10,683	+181.4%
Average			+79.4%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.1% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Damascus
Bread 1 loaf	$1.31 SAR4.91	$0.50 SYP6,447	-62.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.27 SAR16.00	$1.61 SYP20,885	-62.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.23 SAR23.37	$3.76 SYP48,876	-39.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 SAR10.53	$1.91 SYP24,801	-32.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 SAR17.52	$3.25 SYP42,227	-30.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 SAR3.85	$0.45 SYP5,857	-56.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SAR2.87	$0.76 SYP9,879	-0.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 SAR3.07	$0.49 SYP6,389	-39.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 SAR2.63	$0.34 SYP4,423	-51.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.17	$0.32 SYP4,162	-44.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 SAR2.48	$0.30 SYP3,890	-54.8%
Average			-43.1%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Riyadh	Damascus
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.31 SAR8.65	$15.62 SYP203,114	+577.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.33 SAR140.01	$17.00 SYP221,034	-54.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,328.67 SAR125,009.97	$15,000.00 SYP195,030,000	-55.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.40 SAR69.01	$7.00 SYP91,014	-62.0%
Average			+101.5%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.1% less for housing

	Riyadh	Damascus
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.49 SAR279.42	$55.00 SYP715,110	-26.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,119.84 SAR4,200.33	$243.84 SYP3,170,438	-78.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$846.11 SAR3,173.60	$176.43 SYP2,293,994	-79.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.07 SAR307.85	$110.88 SYP1,441,692	+35.1%
Average			-37.1%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of housing

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pay 86.0% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Damascus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.83 SAR1,732.23	$49.17 SYP639,265	-89.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,810.75 SAR36,798.39	$1,704.59 SYP22,163,040	-82.6%
Average			-86.0%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Damascus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.00	$1.60 SYP20,803	-14.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 SAR15.39	$1.93 SYP25,137	-52.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.33 SAR27.50	$3.00 SYP39,006	-59.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$104.43 SAR391.70	$16.25 SYP211,282	-84.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.33 SAR57.50	$3.00 SYP39,006	-80.4%
Average			-58.2%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.9% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Damascus
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.01 SAR221.34	$44.25 SYP575,338	-25.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$64.27 SAR241.07	$41.25 SYP536,332	-35.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.52 SAR414.53	$57.50 SYP747,615	-48.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.25 SAR368.53	$80.00 SYP1,040,160	-18.6%
Average			-31.9%

Riyadh vs. Damascus - 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: December 2025

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