Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Dubai vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Dubai is 43.6% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 53.7% more in Dubai
Groceries: pay 4.0% less in Dubai
Transportation: pay 20.4% more in Dubai
Housing: pay 93.3% more in Dubai
Childcare: pay 69.5% more in Dubai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 63.0% more in Dubai
Clothing: pay 4.1% more in Dubai

The cost of housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, and clothing in Dubai are more expensive than in Riyadh. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Dubai.

Planning a move to United Arab Emirates? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Dubai vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.7% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Dubai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$12.80 AED46.99	+60.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$9.53 AED35.00	+19.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.67 AED6.12	+90.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.79 AED2.89	+151.4%
Average			+53.7%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.0% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Dubai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.54 AED5.66	+19.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$6.21 AED22.81	+17.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$6.92 AED25.40	+2.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$3.34 AED12.26	+8.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$4.36 AED16.00	+0.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.19 AED4.39	-8.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.88 AED3.23	+0.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.85 AED3.12	-24.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$0.64 AED2.34	-20.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.51 AED1.89	-5.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.45 AED1.67	-23.0%
Average			-4.0%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.4% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Dubai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$3.66 AED13.44	+55.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.02	$74.87 AED274.97	+100.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$27,226.44 AED99,989.11	-21.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.01	$8.86 AED32.56	-51.1%
Average			+20.4%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 93.3% more for housing

	Riyadh	Dubai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.23	$92.93 AED341.28	+29.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.63	$2,407.39 AED8,841.14	+102.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,129.06	$1,513.73 AED5,559.16	+81.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.23	$187.87 AED689.96	+129.5%
Average			+93.3%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.5% more for childcare

	Riyadh	Dubai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.98	$859.15 AED3,155.21	+61.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,929.58	$17,941.05 AED65,888.51	+77.5%
Average			+69.5%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 63.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Dubai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$13.61 AED49.99	+538.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$5.96 AED21.89	+39.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$5.99 AED22.00	-22.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.55	$99.96 AED367.10	+11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.01	$16.34 AED59.99	+22.6%
Average			+63.0%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.1% more for clothing

	Riyadh	Dubai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.80	$67.92 AED249.45	+16.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.67	$56.98 AED209.24	+5.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.06	$102.70 AED377.18	+0.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.06	$99.57 AED365.67	-4.2%
Average			+4.1%

Riyadh vs. Dubai - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Riyadh vs. Dubai

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Dubai?

More cost comparisons

Riyadh vs.

Rome

Riyadh vs.

Vienna

Riyadh vs.

Dublin

Riyadh vs.

Warsaw

Riyadh vs.

Madrid

Riyadh vs.

Toronto

Riyadh vs.

Berlin

Riyadh vs.

Athens

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Dubai

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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