Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 5.1 times more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 76.5% more in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 10.1% more in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 6.8 times more in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 18.0 times more in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.6 times more in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 2.5 times more in United Arab Emirates

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, transportation, and restaurants in United Arab Emirates are more expensive than in Sri Lanka. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.5% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.86 LKR851.92	$8.01 AED29.44	+179.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.80 LKR2,021.50	$8.22 AED30.19	+20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LKR210.33	$1.02 AED3.73	+43.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 LKR104.68	$0.57 AED2.09	+61.6%
Average			+76.5%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.1% more for groceries

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 LKR167.63	$1.26 AED4.64	+124.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.21 LKR1,848.00	$5.08 AED18.66	-18.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.31 LKR1,877.63	$6.80 AED24.96	+7.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 LKR647.88	$2.47 AED9.07	+13.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.29 LKR681.94	$3.33 AED12.21	+45.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.04 LKR903.14	$0.94 AED3.47	-68.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.44 LKR131.92	$0.74 AED2.72	+66.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.56 LKR762.22	$0.72 AED2.64	-71.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 LKR148.54	$0.56 AED2.07	+13.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 LKR143.40	$0.45 AED1.64	-7.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 LKR131.68	$0.47 AED1.74	+6.8%
Average			+10.1%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,438.36	$3.06 AED11.23	-36.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.76 LKR3,200.70	$48.60 AED178.50	+351.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,478.81 LKR9,661,312.64	$42,240.06 AED155,143.53	+30.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.09 LKR918.34	$8.46 AED31.07	+174.0%
Average			+129.8%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.8 times more for housing

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.80 LKR4,104.90	$95.75 AED351.69	+593.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$163.33 LKR48,586.12	$1,395.59 AED5,125.85	+754.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$123.34 LKR36,690.15	$985.52 AED3,619.73	+699.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.68 LKR9,126.87	$115.48 AED424.14	+276.4%
Average			+580.9%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 18.0 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$26.94 LKR8,013.79	$507.75 AED1,864.93	+1784.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$475.05 LKR141,312.28	$8,162.28 AED29,979.24	+1618.2%
Average			+1701.5%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 LKR595.62	$10.55 AED38.75	+426.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.35 LKR698.94	$5.03 AED18.46	+113.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.91 LKR2,649.61	$6.23 AED22.87	-30.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$14.75 LKR4,388.98	$84.91 AED311.87	+475.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.23 LKR960.21	$12.83 AED47.12	+297.5%
Average			+256.7%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5 times more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.58 LKR8,797.56	$64.14 AED235.59	+116.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.20 LKR5,712.17	$64.91 AED238.42	+238.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.72 LKR19,549.30	$93.31 AED342.71	+42.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.57 LKR9,985.31	$96.50 AED354.42	+187.5%
Average			+146.1%

Sri Lanka vs. United Arab Emirates - 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: February 2025

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