Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Madagascar

Madagascar vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Madagascar is 60.0% cheaper than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 49.8% less in Madagascar
Groceries: pay 38.2% less in Madagascar
Transportation: pay 15.7% less in Madagascar
Housing: pay 78.3% less in Madagascar
Childcare: pay 69.2% less in Madagascar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.6% less in Madagascar
Clothing: pay 35.7% less in Madagascar

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

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Madagascar vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 49.8% less for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.95	$2.71 MGA12,441	-67.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$5.65 MGA25,919	-33.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$0.79 MGA3,629	-26.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$0.44 MGA2,004	-3.1%
Average			-49.8%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.2% less for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$1.02 MGA4,703	-30.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$4.23 MGA19,402	-14.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.79	$3.70 MGA16,974	-45.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$2.05 MGA9,409	-26.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$2.02 MGA9,282	-45.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$0.49 MGA2,257	-49.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$0.26 MGA1,176	-66.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$0.47 MGA2,155	-34.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$0.39 MGA1,780	-33.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$0.26 MGA1,215	-44.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$0.44 MGA1,999	-8.2%
Average			-38.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.7% less for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$4.39 MGA20,136	+28.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED180.00	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$11,971.37 MGA55M	-64.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.31	$19.65 MGA90,199	+155.0%
Average			-15.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.3% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.23	$57.15 MGA262K	-34.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,214.23	$325.82 MGA1M	-77.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.73	$150.37 MGA690K	-86.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.60	$56.66 MGA260K	-56.9%
Average			-78.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - Cost of housing

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pay 69.2% less for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.81	$25.03 MGA115K	-94.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,088.20	$14,998.31 MGA69M	+83.1%
Average			-69.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.6% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$1.02 MGA4,665	-90.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.34	$1.65 MGA7,583	-66.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$1.58 MGA7,257	-74.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED257.02	$29.61 MGA136K	-57.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$5.65 MGA25,919	-57.5%
Average			-71.6%

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

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pay 35.7% less for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Madagascar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.45	$29.03 MGA133K	-45.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.32	$27.67 MGA127K	-47.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.08	$77.50 MGA356K	-18.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.27	$69.58 MGA319K	-26.6%
Average			-35.7%

United Arab Emirates vs. Madagascar - 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. Madagascar

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 98.8% less money in Madagascar

Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is about 7 times smaller than Madagascar.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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