Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Iraq

Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia Cost of Living Summary

Iraq is 42.7% cheaper than Saudi Arabia overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.8% less in Iraq
Groceries: pay 43.2% less in Iraq
Transportation: pay 31.0% less in Iraq
Housing: pay 48.7% less in Iraq
Childcare: pay 64.4% less in Iraq
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.9% less in Iraq
Clothing: pay 45.3% less in Iraq

Expenses including childcare, housing, clothing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Iraq.

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Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iraq instead of Saudi Arabia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.8% less for restaurants

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.43 SAR24.15	$4.69 IQD7,116	-27.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.60 SAR28.53	$6.78 IQD10,292	-10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 SAR2.90	$0.46 IQD696	-40.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 SAR0.94	$0.25 IQD387	+1.7%
Average			-20.8%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.2% less for groceries

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 SAR3.69	$0.77 IQD1,171	-21.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 SAR14.25	$2.50 IQD3,803	-34.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 SAR25.16	$4.14 IQD6,285	-38.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.67 SAR10.01	$1.73 IQD2,627	-35.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 SAR12.84	$2.04 IQD3,095	-40.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 SAR3.66	$0.46 IQD697	-52.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 SAR2.93	$0.50 IQD764	-35.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$0.45 IQD680	-43.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 SAR2.81	$0.31 IQD474	-58.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 SAR2.32	$0.30 IQD454	-51.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 SAR2.27	$0.28 IQD432	-53.0%
Average			-43.2%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.0% less for transportation

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.83	$2.18 IQD3,310	-7.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.96 SAR134.94	$35.81 IQD54,369	-0.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,549.24 SAR167K	$15,719.55 IQD24M	-64.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.52 SAR77.00	$14.95 IQD22,695	-27.1%
Average			-31.0%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.7% less for housing

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.86 SAR258.41	$35.82 IQD54,388	-48.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$633.54 SAR2,377.57	$299.18 IQD454K	-52.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$465.22 SAR1,745.88	$206.21 IQD313K	-55.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$73.68 SAR276.52	$69.07 IQD105K	-6.3%
Average			-48.7%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of housing

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pay 64.4% less for childcare

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$419.94 SAR1,575.96	$167.07 IQD254K	-60.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,565.65 SAR32,145.50	$2,726.78 IQD4M	-68.2%
Average			-64.4%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.91 SAR7.18	$3.16 IQD4,804	+65.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 SAR12.86	$2.65 IQD4,020	-22.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.94 SAR26.04	$1.96 IQD2,975	-71.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$98.19 SAR368.47	$34.60 IQD52,536	-64.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.24 SAR57.19	$9.36 IQD14,218	-38.5%
Average			-36.9%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.3% less for clothing

	Saudi Arabia	Iraq
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.17 SAR165.75	$24.05 IQD36,514	-45.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.80 SAR209.42	$24.78 IQD37,621	-55.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.45 SAR335.69	$56.42 IQD85,653	-36.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$74.85 SAR280.89	$44.01 IQD66,816	-41.2%
Average			-45.3%

Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq - 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

Compare further: Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iraq?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 5.1 times more likely to be unemployed in Iraq

Size Comparison · See true size

Saudi Arabia is about 4.9 times bigger than Iraq.

Moving from Saudi Arabia to Iraq · UN DESA 2020

680 people born in Saudi Arabia live in Iraq.

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