Cost of living comparison
compared to
South Korea vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary
South Korea is 12.5% cheaper than United Arab Emirates overall.
South Korea vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown
If you lived in South Korea instead of United Arab Emirates, you would:
pay 8.7% less for restaurants
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$8.43
AED30.94
|
$7.06
₩9,627
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$8.55
AED31.39
|
$6.17
₩8,410
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.07
AED3.94
|
$1.53
₩2,083
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.45
AED1.66
|
$0.88
₩1,207
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.2 times more for groceries
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.46
AED5.38
|
$3.04
₩4,143
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.94
AED18.13
|
$6.12
₩8,352
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.75
AED24.78
|
$8.23
₩11,221
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.80
AED10.28
|
$2.94
₩4,009
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.68
AED13.51
|
$4.11
₩5,604
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.97
AED3.58
|
$4.00
₩5,458
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
AED2.80
|
$1.55
₩2,114
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.72
AED2.65
|
$3.00
₩4,087
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.58
AED2.13
|
$2.63
₩3,590
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.48
AED1.75
|
$2.03
₩2,774
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.47
AED1.74
|
$1.26
₩1,722
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries
pay 8.2% more for transportation
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.40
AED12.50
|
$5.01
₩6,830
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$49.01
AED179.98
|
$46.10
₩62,878
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,745.09
AED124K
|
$28,394.53
₩39M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$7.71
AED28.30
|
$8.59
₩11,720
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation
pay 56.1% less for housing
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$87.46
AED321.19
|
$24.34
₩33,198
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,419.61
AED5,213.52
|
$561.73
₩766K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,087.32
AED3,993.18
|
$387.83
₩529K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$131.39
AED482.53
|
$153.72
₩210K
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of housing
pay 67.2% more for childcare
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$481.84
AED1,769.57
|
$545.93
₩745K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$8,191.72
AED30,084.11
|
$20,214.53
₩28M
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare
pay 36.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$10.81
AED39.72
|
$3.30
₩4,499
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.99
AED18.33
|
$3.66
₩4,995
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.20
AED22.77
|
$3.35
₩4,565
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$69.98
AED256.99
|
$57.32
₩78,173
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.30
AED48.83
|
$11.28
₩15,390
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 3.4% more for clothing
|
United Arab Emirates
|
South Korea
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.49
AED196.43
|
$67.53
₩92,101
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$52.36
AED192.30
|
$53.43
₩72,869
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.31
AED350.04
|
$78.10
₩107K
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$94.82
AED348.22
|
$102.84
₩140K
|
|
United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing
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
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Compare further: United Arab Emirates vs. South Korea
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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics
Make 27.9% less money in South Korea
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Size Comparison · See true size
United Arab Emirates is about 1.2 times smaller than South Korea.
→
Moving from United Arab Emirates to South Korea · OECD 2023
386 people moved from United Arab Emirates to South Korea.
→
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