Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 81.3% more expensive than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 93.7% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 38.0% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.5% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 88.7% more in Iceland

The cost of restaurants, childcare, groceries, transportation, clothing, and housing in Iceland are more expensive than in United Arab Emirates. Notably, restaurants, childcare, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Iceland.

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Iceland vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.94	$28.88 ISK3,499	+242.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$22.83 ISK2,767	+167.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$3.25 ISK393	+202.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$3.01 ISK365	+567.9%
Average			+231.6%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$3.55 ISK431	+142.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$10.11 ISK1,226	+104.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.78	$7.79 ISK944	+15.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$6.92 ISK839	+147.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$11.01 ISK1,334	+199.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$1.43 ISK173	+46.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$1.23 ISK148	+60.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$1.42 ISK172	+96.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$2.60 ISK315	+349.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$1.71 ISK207	+259.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$0.76 ISK92	+59.4%
Average			+117.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.7% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$8.09 ISK980	+137.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED179.98	$80.58 ISK9,765	+64.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$48,967.53 ISK6M	+45.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.30	$26.24 ISK3,179	+240.5%
Average			+93.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.0% more for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.19	$98.24 ISK11,905	+12.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,213.52	$2,335.24 ISK283K	+64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.18	$1,824.40 ISK221K	+67.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.53	$72.34 ISK8,766	-44.9%
Average			+38.0%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.57	$833.66 ISK101K	+73.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,084.11	$27,752.37 ISK3M	+238.8%
Average			+142.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.5% more for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$11.37 ISK1,378	+5.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.33	$5.90 ISK715	+18.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$13.85 ISK1,679	+123.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED256.99	$83.64 ISK10,136	+19.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$17.92 ISK2,171	+34.8%
Average			+27.5%

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

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pay 88.7% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.43	$134.47 ISK16,295	+151.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.30	$63.25 ISK7,664	+20.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.04	$159.03 ISK19,271	+66.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.22	$237.19 ISK28,742	+150.2%
Average			+88.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland - 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

Compare further: United Arab Emirates vs. Iceland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iceland?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 95.6% more money in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is about 1.2 times smaller than Iceland.

Moving from United Arab Emirates to Iceland · UN DESA 2020

11 people born in United Arab Emirates live in Iceland.

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