Cost of living comparison

Chile

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Dubai vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Dubai is 85.6% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 8.8% more in Dubai
Groceries: pay 4.7% more in Dubai
Transportation: pay 14.9% more in Dubai
Housing: pay 3.7 times more in Dubai
Childcare: pay 80.3% more in Dubai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in Dubai
Clothing: pay 50.4% more in Dubai

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, clothing, transportation, and restaurants in Dubai are more expensive than in Santiago. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Dubai.

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Dubai vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dubai instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.8% more for restaurants

	Santiago	Dubai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.23 CLF0.2600	$12.80 AED47.00	+25.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 CLF0.2200	$9.53 AED35.00	+9.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 CLF0.0400	$1.67 AED6.12	-2.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 CLF0.0300	$0.79 AED2.89	-36.8%
Average			+8.8%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.7% more for groceries

	Santiago	Dubai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.81 CLF0.0500	$1.54 AED5.66	-15.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.64 CLF0.1400	$6.21 AED22.81	+10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.81 CLF0.1200	$6.92 AED25.41	+43.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.18 CLF0.1100	$3.34 AED12.26	-20.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.11 CLF0.0800	$4.36 AED16.00	+39.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 CLF0.0200	$1.19 AED4.39	+32.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 CLF0.0200	$0.88 AED3.24	+26.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 CLF0.0200	$0.85 AED3.12	+15.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 CLF0.0200	$0.64 AED2.34	-18.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 CLF0.0100	$0.51 AED1.89	+4.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 CLF0.0200	$0.45 AED1.67	-32.9%
Average			+4.7%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.9% more for transportation

	Santiago	Dubai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 CLF0.1500	$3.66 AED13.44	-36.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.93 CLF1.0300	$74.87 AED275.01	+82.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,743.12 CLF448.6700	$27,226.44 AED100K	+53.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.37 CLF0.1900	$8.86 AED32.56	+20.3%
Average			+14.9%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7 times more for housing

	Santiago	Dubai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.07 CLF0.4800	$92.93 AED341.33	+387.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$552.81 CLF13.9800	$2,407.39 AED8,842.35	+335.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$376.90 CLF9.5300	$1,513.73 AED5,559.92	+301.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.86 CLF2.8800	$187.87 AED690.05	+65.0%
Average			+266.5%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of housing

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pay 80.3% more for childcare

	Santiago	Dubai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$432.52 CLF10.9400	$859.15 AED3,155.64	+98.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,959.69 CLF277.1400	$17,941.05 AED65,897.48	+63.7%
Average			+80.3%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Dubai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 CLF0.1000	$13.61 AED50.00	+232.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 CLF0.0800	$5.96 AED21.89	+83.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.22 CLF0.1300	$5.99 AED22.00	+14.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 CLF0.8600	$99.96 AED367.15	+194.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.52 CLF0.1900	$16.34 AED60.00	+117.2%
Average			+131.5%

Santiago vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.4% more for clothing

	Santiago	Dubai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.25 CLF1.2700	$67.92 AED249.49	+35.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 CLF0.7300	$56.98 AED209.27	+98.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$66.29 CLF1.6800	$102.70 AED377.23	+54.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.84 CLF2.0400	$99.57 AED365.72	+23.2%
Average			+50.4%

Santiago vs. Dubai - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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