Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Macau

Macau vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Macau is 5.9% more expensive than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 22.3% less in Macau
Groceries: pay 75.7% more in Macau
Transportation: pay 7.6% more in Macau
Housing: pay 20.0% less in Macau
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Macau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.1% less in Macau
Clothing: pay 3.7% more in Macau

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

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Macau vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.3% less for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.95	$6.19 MOP50.00	-26.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$5.94 MOP48.00	-30.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$0.89 MOP7.17	-17.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$0.63 MOP5.10	+40.0%
Average			-22.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 75.7% more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$1.72 MOP13.89	+17.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$8.09 MOP65.41	+63.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.79	$11.99 MOP96.90	+77.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$3.42 MOP27.62	+22.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$8.79 MOP71.05	+139.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$1.20 MOP9.66	+22.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$1.31 MOP10.58	+71.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$0.87 MOP7.00	+20.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$1.09 MOP8.79	+87.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$1.78 MOP14.43	+275.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$1.31 MOP10.58	+175.8%
Average			+75.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.6% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$6.86 MOP55.45	+101.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED180.00	$22.43 MOP181.30	-54.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$30,925.27 MOP250K	-8.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.31	$12.69 MOP102.60	+64.7%
Average			+7.6%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.0% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.23	$36.99 MOP298.99	-57.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,214.23	$1,083.62 MOP8,759.60	-23.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.73	$1,032.90 MOP8,349.61	-5.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.60	$93.11 MOP752.70	-29.1%
Average			-20.0%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.81	$1,211.24 MOP9,791.22	+151.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,088.20	$18,979.08 MOP153K	+131.7%
Average			+141.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.1% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$5.75 MOP46.50	-46.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.34	$5.01 MOP40.50	+0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$6.68 MOP54.00	+7.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED257.02	$69.07 MOP558.31	-1.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$13.48 MOP108.99	+1.4%
Average			-11.1%

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

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pay 3.7% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Macau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.45	$69.52 MOP561.97	+30.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.32	$33.40 MOP269.99	-36.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.08	$92.78 MOP749.97	-2.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.27	$136.07 MOP1,099.95	+43.5%
Average			+3.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Macau - 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. Macau

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Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is about 2,965 times bigger than Macau.

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

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