Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Italy

Rome vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Rome is 23.6% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Rome
Groceries: pay 22.6% more in Rome
Transportation: pay 58.6% more in Rome
Housing: pay 8.7% more in Rome
Childcare: pay 23.8% more in Rome
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% less in Rome
Clothing: pay 5.7% less in Rome

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

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Rome vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Rome
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$16.80 €14.95	+110.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$11.20 €9.97	+40.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$2.96 €2.63	+238.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$1.48 €1.32	+372.1%
Average			+107.3%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.6% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Rome
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$2.22 €1.98	+72.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$7.42 €6.61	+40.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$6.49 €5.77	-4.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$4.66 €4.15	+51.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$5.66 €5.03	+30.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.17 €1.04	-9.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.05 €0.94	+20.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$1.09 €0.97	-3.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.07 €0.96	+35.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$0.64 €0.57	+18.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$0.72 €0.64	+21.7%
Average			+22.6%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of groceries

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pay 58.6% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Rome
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$8.04 €7.16	+242.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$39.19 €34.88	+5.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$35,551.60 €31,642.21	+2.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$20.16 €17.94	+11.2%
Average			+58.6%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.7% more for housing

	Riyadh	Rome
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$31.87 €28.36	-55.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$1,208.81 €1,075.88	+1.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$873.39 €777.35	+4.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$157.13 €139.85	+92.0%
Average			+8.7%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of housing

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pay 23.8% more for childcare

	Riyadh	Rome
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$487.21 €433.63	-8.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$16,862.20 €15,007.96	+66.9%
Average			+23.8%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Rome
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$5.60 €4.98	+162.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$2.07 €1.84	-51.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$7.28 €6.48	-5.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$65.43 €58.24	-27.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$11.20 €9.97	-16.0%
Average			-7.8%

Riyadh vs. Rome - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.7% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Rome
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$71.31 €63.47	+22.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$36.31 €32.32	-33.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$83.63 €74.43	-18.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$123.17 €109.63	+18.5%
Average			-5.7%

Riyadh vs. Rome - 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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Riyadh is about 1.4 times bigger than Rome.

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