Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Aruba

Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Aruba is 23.4% more expensive than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 97.7% more in Aruba
Groceries: pay 74.2% more in Aruba
Transportation: pay 39.1% more in Aruba
Housing: pay 3.7% less in Aruba
Childcare: pay 4.0% less in Aruba
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.9% less in Aruba
Clothing: pay 12.7% more in Aruba

The cost of restaurants, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Aruba are more expensive than in United Arab Emirates. Expenses including entertainment and sports, childcare, and housing are lower in Aruba. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Aruba.

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Aruba vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 97.7% more for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.95	$20.08 AWG36.15	+138.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$10.39 AWG18.69	+21.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$2.28 AWG4.11	+112.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$1.96 AWG3.52	+334.1%
Average			+97.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - Cost of restaurants

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pay 74.2% more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$2.95 AWG5.31	+101.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$6.50 AWG11.70	+31.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.79	$6.74 AWG12.14	-0.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$5.17 AWG9.30	+84.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$3.45 AWG6.21	-6.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$2.10 AWG3.78	+115.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$0.98 AWG1.77	+29.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$2.27 AWG4.08	+214.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$1.59 AWG2.86	+174.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$1.01 AWG1.82	+112.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$0.91 AWG1.64	+91.5%
Average			+74.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.1% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$9.17 AWG16.50	+169.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED180.00	$30.00 AWG54.00	-38.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$26,095.70 AWG46,972.26	-22.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.31	$48.03 AWG86.45	+523.3%
Average			+39.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.23	$95.25 AWG171.46	+8.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,214.23	$1,027.78 AWG1,850.00	-27.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.73	$1,183.33 AWG2,130.00	+8.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.60	$187.84 AWG338.12	+43.0%
Average			-3.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - Cost of housing

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pay 4.0% less for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.81	$275.00 AWG495.00	-42.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,088.20	$13,223.55 AWG23,802.39	+61.4%
Average			-4.0%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.9% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$5.64 AWG10.16	-47.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.34	$4.73 AWG8.51	-5.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$10.00 AWG18.00	+61.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED257.02	$62.22 AWG112.00	-11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$11.94 AWG21.49	-10.2%
Average			-13.9%

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

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pay 12.7% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Aruba
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.45	$60.00 AWG108.00	+12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.32	$57.85 AWG104.14	+10.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.08	$114.41 AWG205.93	+20.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.27	$102.90 AWG185.22	+8.5%
Average			+12.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: United Arab Emirates vs. Aruba

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Quality of Life Comparison · 7 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is about 464 times bigger than Aruba.

Moving from United Arab Emirates to Aruba · Cost, visas & climate

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