Cost of living comparison

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

compared to

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 61.2% more expensive than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 6.1% more in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 8.2% more in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Riyadh
Housing: pay 16.8% more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 11.4% less in Riyadh

The cost of transportation, childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and restaurants in Riyadh are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Notably, transportation, childcare, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Riyadh.

Riyadh vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riyadh instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.1% more for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ETB778.02	$8.39 SAR31.48	+39.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 ETB808.54	$7.99 SAR29.98	+28.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ETB101.79	$0.76 SAR2.86	-2.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ETB65.11	$0.30 SAR1.12	-40.8%
Average			+6.1%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.2% more for groceries

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ETB155.81	$1.24 SAR4.65	+3.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.85 ETB629.35	$3.91 SAR14.67	-19.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.08 ETB788.22	$6.64 SAR24.93	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.65 ETB343.52	$2.63 SAR9.89	-0.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 ETB732.15	$3.80 SAR14.26	-32.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ETB428.09	$1.03 SAR3.88	-68.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ETB65.66	$0.78 SAR2.95	+55.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 ETB139.82	$0.82 SAR3.07	-24.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 ETB50.12	$0.76 SAR2.84	+95.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB40.36	$0.60 SAR2.25	+92.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ETB102.98	$0.64 SAR2.41	-19.0%
Average			+8.2%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.88 ETB632.76	$2.31 SAR8.68	-52.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 ETB1,296.71	$37.27 SAR139.89	+272.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ETB3,241,769.58	$33,280.09 SAR124,901.32	+33.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.67 ETB475.24	$16.70 SAR62.66	+355.5%
Average			+152.2%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.8% more for housing

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$171.17 ETB22,195.32	$74.70 SAR280.34	-56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$645.10 ETB83,650.62	$1,116.87 SAR4,191.65	+73.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.74 ETB54,817.32	$782.38 SAR2,936.32	+85.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$124.84 ETB16,187.87	$81.80 SAR307.00	-34.5%
Average			+16.8%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$81.47 ETB10,564.70	$360.22 SAR1,351.92	+342.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$43,916.67 ETB5,694,708.55	$10,375.93 SAR38,941.24	-76.4%
Average			+132.9%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 ETB129.67	$2.13 SAR7.99	+113.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.15 ETB149.08	$4.25 SAR15.95	+269.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 ETB518.68	$7.45 SAR27.98	+86.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.59 ETB11,747.52	$101.01 SAR379.11	+11.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.70 ETB868.79	$15.97 SAR59.95	+138.4%
Average			+123.8%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.4% less for clothing

	Addis Ababa	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.33 ETB6,267.42	$52.20 SAR195.93	+8.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB9,746.92	$54.44 SAR204.31	-27.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.84 ETB14,113.72	$107.53 SAR403.56	-1.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.32 ETB15,472.54	$89.80 SAR337.01	-24.7%
Average			-11.4%

Addis Ababa vs. Riyadh - 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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Addis Ababa vs.

Quito

Addis Ababa vs.

Cairo

Addis Ababa vs.

Delhi

Addis Ababa vs.

Washington

Addis Ababa vs.

London

Addis Ababa vs.

Rome

Addis Ababa vs.

Ottawa

Addis Ababa vs.

Kiev

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Ethiopia vs. Saudi Arabia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.

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 Addis Ababa

Add prices for Riyadh

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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