Cost of living comparison

compared to

Dubai vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Dubai is 2.2 times more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Dubai
Groceries: pay 30.0% more in Dubai
Transportation: pay 66.8% more in Dubai
Housing: pay 4.2 times more in Dubai
Childcare: pay 20.7% less in Dubai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.5 times more in Dubai
Clothing: pay 17.2% more in Dubai

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, groceries, and clothing in Dubai are more expensive than in Beijing. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Dubai.

Dubai vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dubai instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Dubai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.17 CN¥30.56	$10.89 AED40.00	+160.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.57 CN¥40.75	$9.53 AED35.00	+71.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 CN¥3.63	$1.30 AED4.78	+162.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.26	$1.11 AED4.08	+259.4%
Average			+163.5%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.0% more for groceries

	Beijing	Dubai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 CN¥10.50	$1.48 AED5.43	+3.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.31 CN¥53.49	$4.37 AED16.07	-40.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 CN¥52.49	$6.78 AED24.89	-5.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 CN¥12.72	$3.23 AED11.86	+85.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥11.21	$3.81 AED14.00	+149.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.92 CN¥6.72	$1.11 AED4.06	+20.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 CN¥5.21	$0.83 AED3.05	+16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 CN¥6.49	$0.86 AED3.17	-2.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥4.27	$0.69 AED2.54	+18.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 CN¥2.70	$0.52 AED1.92	+41.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 CN¥3.45	$0.67 AED2.47	+42.6%
Average			+30.0%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of groceries

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pay 66.8% more for transportation

	Beijing	Dubai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.36 CN¥31.92	$3.16 AED11.59	-27.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.40 CN¥244.47	$81.68 AED300.00	+144.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,872.18 CN¥152,796.87	$33,487.61 AED123,000.33	+60.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.59 CN¥33.62	$8.71 AED32.00	+89.7%
Average			+66.8%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.2 times more for housing

	Beijing	Dubai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.28 CN¥97.24	$101.47 AED372.72	+663.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$929.88 CN¥6,807.27	$2,224.54 AED8,170.77	+139.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$492.44 CN¥3,604.97	$1,400.70 AED5,144.78	+184.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.04 CN¥307.76	$162.54 AED596.99	+286.6%
Average			+318.5%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of housing

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pay 20.7% less for childcare

	Beijing	Dubai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$763.49 CN¥5,589.24	$775.09 AED2,846.92	+1.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,913.01 CN¥167,737.01	$13,081.61 AED48,048.90	-42.9%
Average			-20.7%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Dubai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 CN¥8.15	$12.25 AED45.00	+1000.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 CN¥26.38	$6.02 AED22.10	+67.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.48 CN¥25.47	$6.53 AED24.00	+87.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.46 CN¥479.18	$81.24 AED298.40	+24.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.35 CN¥61.12	$13.61 AED50.00	+63.1%
Average			+248.5%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.2% more for clothing

	Beijing	Dubai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.65 CN¥458.67	$62.51 AED229.62	-0.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.69 CN¥253.93	$56.33 AED206.90	+62.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.45 CN¥610.93	$99.15 AED364.17	+18.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.64 CN¥787.96	$94.67 AED347.73	-12.0%
Average			+17.2%

Beijing vs. Dubai - Cost of clothing

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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: January 2025

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