Cost of living comparison

Mexico City, Mexico

compared to

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 65.7% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 2.2% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 5.3% less in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 63.1% more in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 2.9 times more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 64.0% more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 23.4% more in Abu Dhabi

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, transportation, and clothing in Abu Dhabi are more expensive than in Mexico City. Expenses including groceries and restaurants are lower in Abu Dhabi. Notably, housing and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.93 MX$197.86	$10.89 AED40.00	+9.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.45 MX$148.40	$9.53 AED35.00	+28.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 MX$21.51	$1.08 AED3.95	-0.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 MX$15.40	$0.42 AED1.53	-46.0%
Average			-2.2%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.3% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.45 MX$48.87	$1.37 AED5.03	-44.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.87 MX$96.99	$4.80 AED17.63	-1.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.51 MX$109.75	$6.85 AED25.17	+24.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 MX$43.50	$3.16 AED11.62	+45.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.57 MX$71.16	$3.61 AED13.24	+1.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.22 MX$24.35	$1.00 AED3.67	-18.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$13.34	$0.82 AED3.00	+22.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$15.92	$0.81 AED2.97	+1.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$16.49	$0.69 AED2.52	-16.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$16.96	$0.50 AED1.83	-41.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$16.49	$0.58 AED2.13	-29.8%
Average			-5.3%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 63.1% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.64 MX$92.41	$3.03 AED11.11	-34.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.87 MX$356.15	$24.50 AED89.99	+37.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,615.02 MX$370,988.00	$45,026.41 AED165,366.24	+141.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.47 MX$69.25	$7.23 AED26.56	+108.1%
Average			+63.1%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.9 times more for housing

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.38 MX$485.87	$103.04 AED378.43	+322.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$893.52 MX$17,807.42	$1,349.31 AED4,955.53	+51.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$544.24 MX$10,846.34	$1,005.59 AED3,693.20	+84.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.31 MX$604.09	$119.02 AED437.10	+292.6%
Average			+187.8%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 64.0% more for childcare

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$381.33 MX$7,599.63	$669.40 AED2,458.46	+75.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,426.99 MX$167,945.68	$12,841.46 AED47,162.17	+52.4%
Average			+64.0%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 MX$54.41	$10.89 AED40.00	+298.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.01 MX$59.91	$5.88 AED21.61	+95.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 MX$78.15	$6.13 AED22.50	+56.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.69 MX$1,069.96	$64.83 AED238.11	+20.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.96 MX$98.93	$13.61 AED50.00	+174.2%
Average			+129.2%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.4% more for clothing

	Mexico City	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.36 MX$1,123.13	$67.20 AED246.79	+19.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.06 MX$818.29	$62.59 AED229.88	+52.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.99 MX$1,833.37	$103.06 AED378.52	+12.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.93 MX$1,832.11	$100.93 AED370.68	+9.8%
Average			+23.4%

Mexico City vs. Abu Dhabi - 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: March 2025

More cost comparisons

Mexico City vs.

Dodoma

Mexico City vs.

Rome

Mexico City vs.

Nairobi

Mexico City vs.

Berlin

Mexico City vs.

Manila

Mexico City vs.

Beijing

Mexico City vs.

Singapore

Mexico City vs.

Dublin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Mexico vs. United Arab Emirates. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Mexico and United Arab Emirates.

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 Mexico City

Add prices for Abu Dhabi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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