Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 58.6% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 74.8% more in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 21.1% more in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 2.2% more in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 45.3% less in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 23.2% more in Abu Dhabi

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

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Abu Dhabi vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 74.8% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$8.17 AED30.00	+82.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$9.53 AED35.00	+82.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.15 AED4.24	+92.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.42 AED1.53	+12.5%
Average			+74.8%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.1% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.62 AED5.94	-18.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$5.81 AED21.35	-32.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$7.38 AED27.10	+7.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$3.49 AED12.81	+105.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$4.40 AED16.16	+197.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.12 AED4.13	+13.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.95 AED3.48	+22.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.84 AED3.09	-7.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.71 AED2.60	-8.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.55 AED2.03	+54.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.53 AED1.96	+23.1%
Average			+21.1%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$3.63 AED13.32	-26.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$26.55 AED97.49	-11.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$29,949.09 AED110K	+54.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$7.62 AED28.00	+34.5%
Average			+2.2%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$88.30 AED324.28	+737.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+89.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+137.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$148.00 AED543.52	+235.9%
Average			+143.6%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 45.3% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$790.93 AED2,904.68	-44.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	-46.5%
Average			-45.3%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$11.57 AED42.50	+869.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$5.96 AED21.87	+77.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$6.67 AED24.50	+78.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$95.29 AED349.96	+45.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$14.97 AED54.99	+67.3%
Average			+133.8%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.2% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$61.46 AED225.73	+13.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$49.09 AED180.30	+32.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$111.63 AED409.96	+47.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$110.14 AED404.50	+4.2%
Average			+23.2%

Shanghai vs. Abu Dhabi - 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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