Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Maldives

Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 16.8% more expensive than Saudi Arabia overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.1% more in Maldives
Groceries: pay 26.4% more in Maldives
Transportation: pay 1.9% more in Maldives
Housing: pay 50.6% more in Maldives
Childcare: pay 60.7% less in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.2% more in Maldives
Clothing: pay 14.1% less in Maldives

The cost of housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Maldives are more expensive than in Saudi Arabia. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in Maldives.

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Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.1% more for restaurants

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.43 SAR24.15	$6.00 MVR92.80	-6.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.60 SAR28.53	$9.57 MVR147.98	+25.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 SAR2.90	$1.63 MVR25.14	+110.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 SAR0.94	$0.30 MVR4.59	+18.6%
Average			+15.1%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.4% more for groceries

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 SAR3.69	$1.65 MVR25.58	+68.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 SAR14.25	$3.48 MVR53.78	-8.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 SAR25.16	$6.83 MVR105.59	+1.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.67 SAR10.01	$1.87 MVR28.90	-29.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 SAR12.84	$2.76 MVR42.75	-19.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 SAR3.66	$1.80 MVR27.85	+84.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 SAR2.93	$1.39 MVR21.41	+77.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.59 MVR24.57	+99.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 SAR2.81	$1.22 MVR18.85	+62.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 SAR2.32	$0.75 MVR11.64	+22.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 SAR2.27	$0.69 MVR10.64	+13.8%
Average			+26.4%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.9% more for transportation

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.83	$3.81 MVR58.84	+61.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.96 SAR134.94	$30.82 MVR476.54	-14.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,549.24 SAR167K	$32,446.46 MVR502K	-27.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.52 SAR77.00	$17.52 MVR270.88	-14.6%
Average			+1.9%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.6% more for housing

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.86 SAR258.41	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	+6.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$633.54 SAR2,377.57	$1,043.39 MVR16,130.74	+64.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$465.22 SAR1,745.88	$739.32 MVR11,429.82	+58.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$73.68 SAR276.52	$85.19 MVR1,317.00	+15.6%
Average			+50.6%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

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pay 60.7% less for childcare

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$419.94 SAR1,575.96	$184.92 MVR2,858.87	-56.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,565.65 SAR32,145.50	$3,003.87 MVR46,439.89	-64.9%
Average			-60.7%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.91 SAR7.18	$4.87 MVR75.24	+154.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 SAR12.86	$3.55 MVR54.86	+3.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.94 SAR26.04	$13.95 MVR215.70	+101.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$98.19 SAR368.47	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	-27.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.24 SAR57.19	$9.73 MVR150.49	-36.1%
Average			+7.2%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.1% less for clothing

	Saudi Arabia	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.17 SAR165.75	$39.51 MVR610.80	-10.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.80 SAR209.42	$49.63 MVR767.27	-11.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.45 SAR335.69	$87.11 MVR1,346.76	-2.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$74.85 SAR280.89	$52.50 MVR811.70	-29.9%
Average			-14.1%

Saudi Arabia vs. Maldives - 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. Maldives

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Maldives?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 57.7% less money in Maldives

Size Comparison · See true size

Saudi Arabia is about 7,214 times bigger than Maldives.

Moving from Saudi Arabia to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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