Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Japan

Kobe vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Kobe is 13.0% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 9.8% less in Kobe
Groceries: pay 58.7% more in Kobe
Transportation: pay 23.2% more in Kobe
Housing: pay 36.1% less in Kobe
Childcare: pay 39.2% less in Kobe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.8% less in Kobe
Clothing: pay 42.0% less in Kobe

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

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Kobe vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.8% less for restaurants

	Riyadh	Kobe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$7.59 ¥1,200	-5.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$4.87 ¥770	-39.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.17 ¥184	+33.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.60 ¥95	+91.7%
Average			-9.8%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 58.7% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Kobe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.29 ¥204	+0.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$6.33 ¥1,000	+20.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$5.78 ¥913	-14.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$2.05 ¥325	-33.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$3.16 ¥499	-27.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$3.53 ¥558	+171.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.36 ¥215	+56.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$2.28 ¥360	+102.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$3.54 ¥559	+344.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.72 ¥272	+216.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.58 ¥249	+167.9%
Average			+58.7%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.2% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Kobe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$4.10 ¥648	+74.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$63.27 ¥9,997	+69.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$20,061.49 ¥3M	-42.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$28.47 ¥4,499	+57.1%
Average			+23.2%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.1% less for housing

	Riyadh	Kobe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$31.16 ¥4,923	-56.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$687.49 ¥109K	-42.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$463.95 ¥73,311	-44.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$111.27 ¥17,583	+35.9%
Average			-36.1%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of housing

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pay 39.2% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Kobe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$322.65 ¥50,984	-39.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$6,149.41 ¥972K	-39.1%
Average			-39.2%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Kobe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$2.06 ¥326	-3.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$2.34 ¥370	-45.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$3.48 ¥550	-55.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$46.39 ¥7,331	-48.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$11.39 ¥1,799	-14.5%
Average			-33.8%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.0% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Kobe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$50.30 ¥7,948	-13.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$25.31 ¥3,999	-53.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$45.97 ¥7,264	-55.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$65.37 ¥10,330	-37.1%
Average			-42.0%

Riyadh vs. Kobe - 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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