Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Switzerland Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 46.0% cheaper than Switzerland overall.

Restaurants: pay 74.8% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 53.3% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 50.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 5.8% less in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 78.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.7% less in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 36.4% less in United Arab Emirates

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, groceries, transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates vs. Switzerland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Arab Emirates instead of Switzerland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 74.8% less for restaurants

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$32.37 CHF25.99	$7.91 AED29.06	-75.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$18.82 CHF15.11	$8.65 AED31.75	-54.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.26 CHF4.23	$1.04 AED3.83	-80.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$4.76 CHF3.82	$0.50 AED1.85	-89.4%
Average			-74.8%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.3% less for groceries

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.73 CHF2.99	$1.47 AED5.39	-60.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$14.66 CHF11.77	$5.36 AED19.68	-63.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.19 CHF6.58	$6.96 AED25.56	-15.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$7.43 CHF5.96	$2.81 AED10.34	-62.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$14.43 CHF11.59	$3.68 AED13.51	-74.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.69 CHF1.36	$0.98 AED3.59	-42.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 CHF0.89	$0.75 AED2.75	-32.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.35 CHF1.08	$0.73 AED2.69	-45.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.94 CHF2.36	$0.59 AED2.15	-80.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 CHF0.93	$0.48 AED1.76	-58.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CHF0.88	$0.53 AED1.93	-52.2%
Average			-53.3%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 50.5% less for transportation

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.41 CHF6.75	$2.91 AED10.69	-65.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$119.36 CHF95.82	$53.10 AED195.00	-55.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,637.10 CHF32,622.53	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	+0.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$45.06 CHF36.17	$8.50 AED31.21	-81.1%
Average			-50.5%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.8% less for housing

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.20 CHF47.52	$101.41 AED372.42	+71.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,797.02 CHF1,442.60	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	-20.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,562.03 CHF1,253.96	$990.79 AED3,638.67	-36.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$197.97 CHF158.93	$122.67 AED450.49	-38.0%
Average			-5.8%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 78.5% less for childcare

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,700.86 CHF2,168.19	$497.28 AED1,826.25	-81.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$33,359.10 CHF26,779.92	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-75.5%
Average			-78.5%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.73 CHF7.00	$10.43 AED38.31	+19.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.04 CHF4.85	$4.99 AED18.32	-17.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.28 CHF9.06	$6.23 AED22.88	-44.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$101.44 CHF81.43	$75.55 AED277.45	-25.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$24.10 CHF19.35	$13.19 AED48.44	-45.3%
Average			-22.7%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.4% less for clothing

	Switzerland	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$142.30 CHF114.24	$75.04 AED275.58	-47.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.55 CHF56.63	$59.50 AED218.51	-15.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$162.86 CHF130.74	$105.66 AED388.03	-35.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$202.63 CHF162.67	$106.53 AED391.23	-47.4%
Average			-36.4%

Switzerland vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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