Cost of living comparison
compared to
Dubai vs. Singapore Cost of Living Summary
Dubai is 25.9% cheaper than Singapore overall.
Dubai vs. Singapore Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Dubai instead of Singapore, you would:
pay 2.4% more for restaurants
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.72
SGD15.02
|
$12.80
AED46.99
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$8.59
SGD11.01
|
$9.53
AED35.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.81
SGD2.32
|
$1.67
AED6.12
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.22
SGD1.56
|
$0.79
AED2.89
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants
pay 40.1% less for groceries
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.52
SGD3.23
|
$1.54
AED5.66
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$10.61
SGD13.60
|
$6.21
AED22.81
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$11.31
SGD14.49
|
$6.92
AED25.40
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.63
SGD4.66
|
$3.34
AED12.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.43
SGD5.67
|
$4.36
AED16.00
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.04
SGD2.62
|
$1.19
AED4.39
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.39
SGD1.78
|
$0.88
AED3.23
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.11
SGD2.70
|
$0.85
AED3.12
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
SGD1.29
|
$0.64
AED2.34
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.15
SGD1.48
|
$0.51
AED1.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.07
SGD1.37
|
$0.45
AED1.67
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries
pay 60.5% less for transportation
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$9.42
SGD12.07
|
$3.66
AED13.44
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$95.32
SGD122.14
|
$74.87
AED274.97
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$158K
SGD202K
|
$27,226.44
AED99,989.11
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$9.84
SGD12.61
|
$8.86
AED32.56
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation
pay 10.2% less for housing
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$26.68
SGD34.19
|
$92.93
AED341.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,972.36
SGD3,808.76
|
$2,407.39
AED8,841.14
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,133.71
SGD2,734.12
|
$1,513.73
AED5,559.16
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$133.12
SGD170.58
|
$187.87
AED689.96
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of housing
pay 39.2% less for childcare
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,466.84
SGD1,879.60
|
$859.15
AED3,155.21
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$28,413.66
SGD36,409.09
|
$17,941.05
AED65,888.51
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare
pay 10.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.20
SGD10.51
|
$13.61
AED49.99
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.19
SGD6.65
|
$5.96
AED21.89
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.06
SGD18.02
|
$5.99
AED22.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$110.24
SGD141.26
|
$99.96
AED367.10
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.72
SGD15.02
|
$16.34
AED59.99
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 9.0% less for clothing
|
Singapore
|
Dubai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$80.66
SGD103.36
|
$67.92
AED249.45
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.96
SGD65.30
|
$56.98
AED209.24
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$110.36
SGD141.41
|
$102.70
AED377.18
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$127.45
SGD163.31
|
$99.57
AED365.67
|
|
Singapore vs. Dubai - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Singapore vs. Dubai
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See the
cost of living in Singapore vs. United Arab Emirates.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Singapore and United Arab Emirates.
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