Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Portugal

Portugal vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Portugal is 6.8% cheaper than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 50.3% more in Portugal
Groceries: pay 15.1% more in Portugal
Transportation: pay 32.4% more in Portugal
Housing: pay 31.8% less in Portugal
Childcare: pay 13.8% more in Portugal
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.7% less in Portugal
Clothing: pay 2.1% more in Portugal

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

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Portugal vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.3% more for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.94	$13.01 €11.62	+54.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$9.54 €8.51	+11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$1.90 €1.70	+77.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$1.44 €1.29	+220.3%
Average			+50.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.1% more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$1.56 €1.39	+6.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$5.65 €5.04	+14.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.78	$4.09 €3.65	-39.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$3.28 €2.93	+17.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$3.42 €3.05	-7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$1.02 €0.91	+5.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$0.65 €0.58	-14.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$0.83 €0.74	+15.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$1.09 €0.97	+88.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$0.79 €0.70	+65.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$0.87 €0.77	+82.7%
Average			+15.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.4% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$7.95 €7.10	+133.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED179.98	$37.81 €33.76	-22.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$33,409.36 €29,831.11	-1.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.30	$12.87 €11.49	+67.0%
Average			+32.4%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.8% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.19	$39.38 €35.16	-55.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,213.52	$962.54 €859.45	-32.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.18	$770.06 €687.59	-29.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.53	$94.27 €84.18	-28.2%
Average			-31.8%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - Cost of housing

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pay 13.8% more for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.57	$491.62 €438.97	+2.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,084.11	$10,398.72 €9,284.98	+26.9%
Average			+13.8%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.7% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$2.77 €2.47	-74.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.33	$2.05 €1.83	-58.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$6.15 €5.49	-0.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED256.99	$43.95 €39.24	-37.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$8.25 €7.36	-38.0%
Average			-49.7%

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

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pay 2.1% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Portugal
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.43	$80.47 €71.85	+50.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.30	$37.54 €33.52	-28.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.04	$86.61 €77.33	-9.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.22	$105.16 €93.90	+10.9%
Average			+2.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Portugal - 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. Portugal

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 2.8 times more likely to be unemployed in Portugal

Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is around the same size as Portugal.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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