Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 4.5 times more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 79.5% more in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 86.6% more in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 12.7 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 21.4 times more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.4 times more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Abu Dhabi

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

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Abu Dhabi vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$8.17 AED30.00	+216.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$9.53 AED35.00	+94.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$1.15 AED4.24	+130.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.42 AED1.53	+129.9%
Average			+150.1%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 79.5% more for groceries

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$1.62 AED5.94	+50.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$5.81 AED21.35	+209.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$7.38 AED27.10	+143.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$3.49 AED12.81	+85.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$4.40 AED16.16	+145.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$1.12 AED4.13	-2.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$0.95 AED3.48	+36.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$0.84 AED3.09	+15.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$0.71 AED2.60	+111.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$0.55 AED2.03	+113.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$0.53 AED1.96	+71.6%
Average			+79.5%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

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pay 86.6% more for transportation

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$3.63 AED13.32	+30.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$26.55 AED97.49	+413.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$29,949.09 AED110K	+80.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$7.62 AED28.00	-42.2%
Average			+86.6%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.7 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$88.30 AED324.28	+265.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+1448.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+1527.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	$148.00 AED543.52	+473.5%
Average			+1165.9%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

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pay 21.4 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$790.93 AED2,904.68	+1658.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+2505.9%
Average			+2040.7%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$11.57 AED42.50	+347.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$5.96 AED21.87	+367.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$6.67 AED24.50	+72.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$95.29 AED349.96	+104.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	$14.97 AED54.99	+382.8%
Average			+243.9%

Thimphu vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Thimphu	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$61.46 AED225.73	+23.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$49.09 AED180.30	+96.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$111.63 AED409.96	+66.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$110.14 AED404.50	+689.1%
Average			+137.2%

Thimphu 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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