Cost of living comparison

United Arab Emirates

compared to

Sweden

Sweden vs. United Arab Emirates Cost of Living Summary

Sweden is 1.6% more expensive than United Arab Emirates overall.

Restaurants: pay 72.8% more in Sweden
Groceries: pay 56.1% more in Sweden
Transportation: pay 55.5% more in Sweden
Housing: pay 37.4% less in Sweden
Childcare: pay 46.3% less in Sweden
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.9% less in Sweden
Clothing: pay 23.1% more in Sweden

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

Planning a move to Sweden? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Sweden vs. United Arab Emirates Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 72.8% more for restaurants

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.43 AED30.94	$14.04 SEK139.16	+66.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.55 AED31.39	$10.77 SEK106.72	+26.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 AED3.94	$2.49 SEK24.69	+132.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 AED1.66	$2.07 SEK20.50	+358.8%
Average			+72.8%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 56.1% more for groceries

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Bread 1 loaf	$1.46 AED5.38	$2.82 SEK27.96	+92.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.94 AED18.13	$5.72 SEK56.73	+15.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 AED24.78	$6.07 SEK60.17	-10.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 AED10.28	$4.23 SEK41.96	+51.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 AED13.51	$5.25 SEK52.06	+42.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 AED3.58	$1.36 SEK13.45	+39.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 AED2.80	$1.14 SEK11.35	+50.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 AED2.65	$1.29 SEK12.83	+79.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 AED2.13	$1.93 SEK19.15	+233.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 AED1.75	$0.76 SEK7.53	+59.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 AED1.74	$0.73 SEK7.23	+53.6%
Average			+56.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 55.5% more for transportation

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.40 AED12.50	$6.65 SEK65.87	+95.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.01 AED179.98	$77.78 SEK770.99	+58.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,745.09 AED124K	$31,975.58 SEK317K	-5.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.71 AED28.30	$22.74 SEK225.41	+195.1%
Average			+55.5%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.4% less for housing

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$87.46 AED321.19	$38.16 SEK378.26	-56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,419.61 AED5,213.52	$883.11 SEK8,753.97	-37.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,087.32 AED3,993.18	$671.43 SEK6,655.65	-38.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.39 AED482.53	$97.70 SEK968.44	-25.6%
Average			-37.4%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.3% less for childcare

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$481.84 AED1,769.57	$155.03 SEK1,536.80	-67.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,191.72 AED30,084.11	$7,341.74 SEK72,776.51	-10.4%
Average			-46.3%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.9% less for entertainment and sports

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 AED39.72	$7.36 SEK72.98	-31.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.99 AED18.33	$4.45 SEK44.08	-10.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.20 AED22.77	$7.55 SEK74.80	+21.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.98 AED256.99	$41.12 SEK407.65	-41.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.30 AED48.83	$15.58 SEK154.45	+17.2%
Average			-15.9%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.1% more for clothing

	United Arab Emirates	Sweden
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.49 AED196.43	$91.37 SEK905.76	+70.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.36 AED192.30	$44.99 SEK445.93	-14.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.31 AED350.04	$95.04 SEK942.07	-0.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.82 AED348.22	$148.76 SEK1,474.64	+56.9%
Average			+23.1%

United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: United Arab Emirates vs. Sweden

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sweden?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 4.0 times more likely to be unemployed in Sweden

Size Comparison · See true size

United Arab Emirates is about 5 times smaller than Sweden.

Moving from United Arab Emirates to Sweden · OECD 2023

3 people moved from United Arab Emirates to Sweden.

More cost comparisons

United Arab Emirates vs.

India

United Arab Emirates vs.

Kuwait

United Arab Emirates vs.

Canada

United Arab Emirates vs.

Oman

United Arab Emirates vs.

United States

United Arab Emirates vs.

Australia

United Arab Emirates vs.

United Kingdom

United Arab Emirates vs.

Qatar

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.