Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kuala Lumpur vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 18.8% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 0.7% more in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 5.4% more in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 27.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 54.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 25.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 18.6% less in Kuala Lumpur

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

Kuala Lumpur vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.7% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00 SAR30.00	$4.74 MYR19.59	-40.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00 SAR30.00	$4.74 MYR19.59	-40.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 SAR2.82	$0.89 MYR3.66	+17.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 SAR1.10	$0.49 MYR2.01	+66.6%
Average			+0.7%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.4% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.31 SAR4.91	$0.98 MYR4.03	-25.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.27 SAR16.00	$7.13 MYR29.45	+67.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.23 SAR23.37	$7.98 MYR32.96	+28.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 SAR10.53	$2.23 MYR9.21	-20.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 SAR17.52	$2.09 MYR8.65	-55.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 SAR3.85	$1.32 MYR5.45	+28.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SAR2.87	$0.75 MYR3.09	-2.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 SAR3.07	$1.22 MYR5.04	+49.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 SAR2.63	$0.69 MYR2.86	-1.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.17	$0.57 MYR2.34	-2.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 SAR2.48	$0.62 MYR2.56	-6.2%
Average			+5.4%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.1% less for transportation

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.31 SAR8.65	$1.87 MYR7.71	-19.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.33 SAR140.01	$11.85 MYR48.96	-68.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,328.67 SAR125,009.97	$40,284.36 MYR166,475.12	+20.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.40 SAR69.01	$10.66 MYR44.07	-42.0%
Average			-27.1%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.1% less for housing

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.49 SAR279.42	$25.49 MYR105.32	-65.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,119.84 SAR4,200.33	$573.16 MYR2,368.60	-48.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$846.11 SAR3,173.60	$350.71 MYR1,449.31	-58.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.07 SAR307.85	$46.59 MYR192.54	-43.2%
Average			-54.1%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 25.5% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.83 SAR1,732.23	$264.45 MYR1,092.86	-42.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,810.75 SAR36,798.39	$9,004.74 MYR37,212.09	-8.2%
Average			-25.5%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.00	$4.27 MYR17.63	+128.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 SAR15.39	$3.06 MYR12.65	-25.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.33 SAR27.50	$4.27 MYR17.63	-41.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$104.43 SAR391.70	$46.43 MYR191.86	-55.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.33 SAR57.50	$4.98 MYR20.56	-67.5%
Average			-12.3%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.6% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.01 SAR221.34	$61.66 MYR254.80	+4.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$64.27 SAR241.07	$37.10 MYR153.34	-42.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.52 SAR414.53	$87.80 MYR362.83	-20.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.25 SAR368.53	$82.47 MYR340.83	-16.1%
Average			-18.6%

Riyadh vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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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