Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Sandton Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 74.2% more expensive than Sandton.

Restaurants: pay 0.1% more in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 22.3% more in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 16.9% less in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9 times more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 13.1% more in Abu Dhabi

The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, childcare, groceries, clothing, and restaurants in Abu Dhabi are more expensive than in Sandton. Notably, entertainment and sports, housing, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Abu Dhabi.

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Abu Dhabi vs. Sandton Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of Sandton, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.1% more for restaurants

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.82 ZAR180.14	$8.17 AED30.00	-24.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.71 ZAR95.07	$9.53 AED35.00	+66.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 ZAR17.65	$1.15 AED4.24	+8.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 ZAR14.18	$0.42 AED1.53	-51.1%
Average			+0.1%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.3% more for groceries

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 ZAR18.39	$1.62 AED5.94	+46.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.31 ZAR71.79	$5.81 AED21.35	+34.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.45 ZAR74.08	$7.38 AED27.10	+65.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.67 ZAR44.53	$3.49 AED12.81	+30.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.23 ZAR37.22	$4.40 AED16.16	+96.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 ZAR15.53	$1.12 AED4.13	+20.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 ZAR13.62	$0.95 AED3.48	+15.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.76	$0.84 AED3.09	+1.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.85	$0.71 AED2.60	-14.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR11.58	$0.55 AED2.03	-20.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.16	$0.53 AED1.96	-32.5%
Average			+22.3%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.9% less for transportation

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.75 ZAR95.74	$3.63 AED13.32	-36.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$26.55 AED97.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR589K	$29,949.09 AED110K	-15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.51 ZAR125.10	$7.62 AED28.00	+1.5%
Average			-16.9%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.83 ZAR613.43	$88.30 AED324.28	+139.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.64 ZAR9,004.47	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+263.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$440.65 ZAR7,339.01	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+217.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$126.36 ZAR2,104.57	$148.00 AED543.52	+17.1%
Average			+159.5%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$260.78 ZAR4,343.36	$790.93 AED2,904.68	+203.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,210.58 ZAR120K	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+105.5%
Average			+154.4%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.53	$11.57 AED42.50	+413.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.44 ZAR40.66	$5.96 AED21.87	+143.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.25 ZAR54.12	$6.67 AED24.50	+105.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.05 ZAR600.46	$95.29 AED349.96	+164.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.21 ZAR120.09	$14.97 AED54.99	+107.7%
Average			+186.9%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.1% more for clothing

	Sandton	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.63 ZAR959.83	$61.46 AED225.73	+6.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.77 ZAR762.36	$49.09 AED180.30	+7.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.14 ZAR1,601.24	$111.63 AED409.96	+16.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.13 ZAR1,501.16	$110.14 AED404.50	+22.2%
Average			+13.1%

Sandton vs. Abu Dhabi - 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: October 2026

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