Cost of living comparison

compared to

Abu Dhabi is 29.3% more expensive than Riyadh.

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 32.6% more for restaurants

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $8.39
SAR31.50
$10.89
AED40.00
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$7.99
SAR30.00
$9.53
AED35.00
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.76
SAR2.87
$1.08
AED3.95

Improve prices ·

pay 1.4% more for groceries

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Bread
1 loaf
$1.24
SAR4.65
$1.37
AED5.03
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.91
SAR14.69
$4.80
AED17.63
Milk (1 gallon) $6.64
SAR24.95
$6.85
AED25.17

Improve prices ·

pay 6.2% less for transportation

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.31
SAR8.68
$3.03
AED11.11
Monthly public transit pass $37.27
SAR140.01
$24.50
AED90.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $33,280.09
SAR125,010.25
$45,026.41
AED165,382.45

Improve prices ·

pay 33.2% more for housing

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$74.70
SAR280.58
$103.04
AED378.47
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,116.87
SAR4,195.31
$1,349.31
AED4,956.01
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $782.38
SAR2,938.88
$1,005.59
AED3,693.56

Improve prices ·

pay 54.8% more for childcare

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $360.22
SAR1,353.09
$669.40
AED2,458.70
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,375.93
SAR38,975.20
$12,841.46
AED47,166.80

Improve prices ·

pay 76.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.13
SAR8.00
$10.89
AED40.00
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.25
SAR15.96
$5.88
AED21.61
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.45
SAR28.00
$6.13
AED22.50

Improve prices ·

pay 13.0% more for clothing

 
Riyadh
Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.20
SAR196.10
$67.20
AED246.82
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$54.44
SAR204.49
$62.59
AED229.91
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$107.53
SAR403.91
$103.06
AED378.55

Improve prices ·
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 2024
Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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