Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Maldives

Male vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Male is 7.0% cheaper than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 0.3% less in Male
Groceries: pay 21.0% more in Male
Transportation: pay 10.3% more in Male
Housing: pay 13.2% less in Male
Childcare: pay 67.8% less in Male
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% more in Male
Clothing: pay 28.2% less in Male

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

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Male vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 0.3% less for restaurants

	Riyadh	Male
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$6.00 MVR92.80	-24.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$9.73 MVR150.49	+21.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.63 MVR25.14	+86.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$0.30 MVR4.59	-5.2%
Average			-0.3%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.0% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Male
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$1.65 MVR25.58	+28.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$5.34 MVR82.48	+1.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$7.69 MVR118.88	+13.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$1.92 MVR29.72	-37.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$2.77 MVR42.75	-36.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.80 MVR27.85	+38.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.39 MVR21.42	+58.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$1.85 MVR28.67	+64.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.22 MVR18.85	+53.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.93 MVR14.41	+71.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.86 MVR13.31	+46.1%
Average			+21.0%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.3% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Male
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$3.81 MVR58.85	+62.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$30.82 MVR476.54	-17.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$32,446.46 MVR502K	-6.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$17.52 MVR270.88	-3.3%
Average			+10.3%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.2% less for housing

	Riyadh	Male
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	+1.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$951.14 MVR14,704.70	-19.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$699.92 MVR10,820.71	-16.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$90.98 MVR1,406.51	+11.1%
Average			-13.2%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of housing

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pay 67.8% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Male
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$184.98 MVR2,859.75	-65.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$3,004.83 MVR46,454.64	-70.3%
Average			-67.8%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Male
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$4.87 MVR75.24	+128.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$3.55 MVR54.87	-17.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$14.93 MVR230.75	+93.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	-21.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$9.73 MVR150.49	-26.9%
Average			+5.7%

Riyadh vs. Male - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.2% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Male
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$39.51 MVR610.88	-32.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$49.64 MVR767.37	-8.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$87.13 MVR1,346.98	-15.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$52.52 MVR811.92	-49.5%
Average			-28.2%

Riyadh vs. Male - 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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