Cost of living comparison

compared to

India vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

India is 78.1% cheaper than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants
pay 67.5% less in India
Groceries
pay 59.6% less in India
Transportation
pay 53.4% less in India
Housing
pay 90.7% less in India
Childcare
pay 85.7% less in India
Entertainment and Sports
pay 75.3% less in India
Clothing
pay 62.4% less in India

Expenses including housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and groceries are lower in India.

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India vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

pay 67.5% less for restaurants

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant AED30.94
 
 AED8.16
₹211.01
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 AED31.39
 
 AED13.11
₹338.91
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) AED3.94
 
 AED1.37
₹35.47
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pay 59.6% less for groceries

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Bread
1 loaf
 AED5.38
 
 AED1.61
₹41.71
Local cheese (8 oz) AED18.13
 
 AED8.61
₹222.56
Milk (1 gallon) AED24.78
 
 AED8.69
₹224.60
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pay 53.4% less for transportation

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Gasoline (1 gallon) AED12.50
 
 AED14.98
₹387.20
Monthly public transit pass AED179.98
 
 AED32.07
₹829.07
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) AED124K
 
 AED46,242.62
₹1M
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pay 90.7% less for housing

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 AED321.19
 
 AED24.75
₹639.79
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area AED5,213.52
 
 AED456.84
₹11,810.79
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center AED3,993.18
 
 AED301.23
₹7,787.85
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pay 85.7% less for childcare

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly AED1,769.57
 
 AED187.65
₹4,851.35
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters AED30,084.11
 
 AED5,830.77
₹151K
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pay 75.3% less for entertainment and sports

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) AED39.72
 
 AED6.46
₹166.88
Cappuccino in mid-range area AED18.33
 
 AED5.69
₹147.06
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 AED22.77
 
 AED15.96
₹412.74
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pay 62.4% less for clothing

 
United Arab Emirates
India
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 AED196.43
 
 AED78.15
₹2,020.56
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 AED192.30
 
 AED80.45
₹2,079.78
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 AED350.04
 
 AED139.49
₹3,606.34
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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

Change currency:

1 USD = 3.67 AED

Compare further: United Arab Emirates vs. India

Salary Calculator · Free tool
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Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics
Make 94.6% less money in India
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Size Comparison · See true size
United Arab Emirates is about 39 times smaller than India.
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Moving from United Arab Emirates to India · UN DESA 2020
38,470 people born in United Arab Emirates live in India.
→
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