Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Selangor Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 62.5% more expensive than Selangor.

Restaurants: pay 65.3% more in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 12.4% more in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 22.1% more in Riyadh
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.3% more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 15.3% more in Riyadh

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

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Riyadh vs. Selangor Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 65.3% more for restaurants

	Selangor	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 MYR17.49	$7.99 SAR30.00	+86.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.92 MYR15.99	$7.99 SAR30.00	+104.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$0.87 SAR3.28	+8.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 MYR1.83	$0.31 SAR1.18	-30.1%
Average			+65.3%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.4% more for groceries

	Selangor	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 MYR4.37	$1.29 SAR4.83	+20.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$5.27 SAR19.78	-24.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.13 MYR29.12	$6.76 SAR25.39	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 MYR7.91	$3.08 SAR11.57	+59.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$4.34 SAR16.27	+114.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$1.30 SAR4.88	-16.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.87 SAR3.28	+6.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$1.13 SAR4.23	+8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.80 SAR2.99	+11.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.54 SAR2.04	-8.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MYR1.96	$0.59 SAR2.21	+22.5%
Average			+12.4%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.1% more for transportation

	Selangor	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.90 MYR11.82	$2.35 SAR8.82	-18.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$37.31 SAR140.01	+204.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$34,642.08 SAR130K	-17.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$18.12 SAR68.00	+64.6%
Average			+22.1%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Selangor	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$71.73 SAR269.20	+173.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$512.24 MYR2,091.59	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+131.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$342.58 MYR1,398.84	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+143.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$81.86 SAR307.20	+72.1%
Average			+127.8%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Selangor	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$122.35 MYR499.58	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	+333.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,213.21 MYR29,452.98	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	+40.1%
Average			+146.5%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Selangor	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.13 SAR8.00	-51.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 MYR9.19	$4.28 SAR16.07	+90.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$7.73 SAR29.00	+75.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.38 MYR164.86	$89.94 SAR337.52	+122.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$13.32 SAR50.00	+165.6%
Average			+62.3%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% more for clothing

	Selangor	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$58.30 SAR218.78	-18.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$54.26 SAR203.65	+29.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.22 MYR319.40	$102.59 SAR385.02	+31.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.57 MYR333.06	$103.93 SAR390.02	+27.4%
Average			+15.3%

Selangor vs. Riyadh - 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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