Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sweden vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Sweden is 31.4% more expensive than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Sweden
Groceries: pay 68.3% more in Sweden
Transportation: pay 93.4% more in Sweden
Housing: pay 36.4% less in Sweden
Childcare: pay 59.2% less in Sweden
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% less in Sweden
Clothing: pay 10.2% more in Sweden

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

Sweden vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.91 AED29.06	$14.38 SEK135.86	+81.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.65 AED31.75	$11.04 SEK104.36	+27.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 AED3.83	$2.58 SEK24.43	+148.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 AED1.85	$2.22 SEK20.96	+340.0%
Average			+149.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 68.3% more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Bread 1 loaf	$1.47 AED5.39	$2.88 SEK27.20	+96.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.36 AED19.68	$6.00 SEK56.72	+12.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.96 AED25.56	$6.33 SEK59.85	-9.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 AED10.34	$4.34 SEK41.01	+54.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$5.57 SEK52.62	+51.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 AED3.59	$1.41 SEK13.35	+44.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 AED2.75	$1.21 SEK11.44	+61.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 AED2.69	$1.36 SEK12.85	+85.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 AED2.15	$1.97 SEK18.66	+237.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.76	$0.80 SEK7.55	+66.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 AED1.93	$0.79 SEK7.49	+50.6%
Average			+68.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 93.4% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.91 AED10.69	$7.32 SEK69.19	+151.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.10 AED195.00	$81.92 SEK774.19	+54.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	$31,594.19 SEK298,596.70	-22.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.50 AED31.21	$24.67 SEK233.17	+190.3%
Average			+93.4%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.4% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$101.41 AED372.42	$37.43 SEK353.72	-63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	$936.32 SEK8,849.16	-34.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$990.79 AED3,638.67	$720.46 SEK6,809.11	-27.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$122.67 AED450.49	$97.92 SEK925.40	-20.2%
Average			-36.4%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.2% less for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$497.28 AED1,826.25	$155.59 SEK1,470.47	-68.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	$4,116.05 SEK38,900.77	-49.6%
Average			-59.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.7% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.43 AED38.31	$7.74 SEK73.17	-25.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.32	$4.56 SEK43.10	-8.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.23 AED22.88	$7.64 SEK72.24	+22.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.55 AED277.45	$44.09 SEK416.68	-41.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.19 AED48.44	$16.46 SEK155.54	+24.8%
Average			-5.7%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.2% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.04 AED275.58	$94.86 SEK896.55	+26.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$59.50 AED218.51	$42.53 SEK401.90	-28.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.66 AED388.03	$106.79 SEK1,009.30	+1.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.53 AED391.23	$151.29 SEK1,429.84	+42.0%
Average			+10.2%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

United Arab Emirates vs.

Austria

United Arab Emirates vs.

Italy

United Arab Emirates vs.

Ireland

United Arab Emirates vs.

China

United Arab Emirates vs.

Canada

United Arab Emirates vs.

Thailand

United Arab Emirates vs.

Greece

United Arab Emirates vs.

Egypt

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs. Stockholm

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for United Arab Emirates

Add prices for Sweden

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sweden or United Arab Emirates. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.