Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 8.2% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 14.3% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 31.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 31.9% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 50.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.2% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 25.4% less in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Playa del Carmen instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00 SAR30.05	$11.90 MX$208.65	+48.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00 SAR30.05	$10.83 MX$189.98	+35.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 SAR2.82	$1.62 MX$28.48	+116.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 SAR1.10	$1.34 MX$23.54	+359.5%
Average			+139.9%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.31 SAR4.91	$1.98 MX$34.69	+51.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.27 SAR16.03	$4.33 MX$75.99	+1.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.23 SAR23.41	$5.50 MX$96.44	-11.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 SAR10.55	$2.27 MX$39.77	-19.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 SAR17.55	$3.76 MX$65.94	-19.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 SAR3.86	$1.30 MX$22.73	+26.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SAR2.87	$0.64 MX$11.28	-15.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 SAR3.07	$0.90 MX$15.73	+9.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 SAR2.63	$0.94 MX$16.44	+33.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.18	$0.85 MX$14.94	+46.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 SAR2.49	$1.02 MX$17.95	+54.6%
Average			+14.3%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.1% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.31 SAR8.66	$5.02 MX$88.13	+117.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.33 SAR140.25	$27.08 MX$474.95	-27.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,328.67 SAR125K	$31,003.27 MX$544K	-7.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.40 SAR69.12	$25.93 MX$454.78	+40.9%
Average			+31.1%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.9% less for housing

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.49 SAR279.89	$30.51 MX$535.11	-59.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,119.84 SAR4,207.41	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	-4.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$846.11 SAR3,178.95	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	-42.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.07 SAR308.36	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	-21.5%
Average			-31.9%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 50.5% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.83 SAR1,735.15	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	-55.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,810.75 SAR36,860.40	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	-45.4%
Average			-50.5%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.01	$3.12 MX$54.73	+67.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 SAR15.41	$3.46 MX$60.70	-15.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.33 SAR27.55	$4.17 MX$73.14	-43.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$104.43 SAR392.36	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	-42.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.33 SAR57.60	$4.98 MX$87.43	-67.5%
Average			-20.2%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.01 SAR221.71	$43.98 MX$771.42	-25.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$64.27 SAR241.48	$41.89 MX$734.72	-34.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.52 SAR415.23	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	-31.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.25 SAR369.15	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	-9.8%
Average			-25.4%

Riyadh vs. Playa del Carmen - 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: July 2026

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