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Cost of living: Abu Dhabi vs Dubai

Choose where you live now and another city. You'll see what a normal month costs in each: rent, food, transport, bills and going out.

Household
Rent

Popular:London vs New YorkLisbon vs LondonHong Kong vs SingaporeNew York vs TokyoBerlin vs LondonDubai vs London

Dubai is 15% more expensive than Abu Dhabi.

Monthly cost for one person, renting in the city centre. Includes rent, food, transport, bills and going out.

Where you live now

Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates

AED 10,568

per month

City to compare

DubaiUnited Arab Emirates

AED 12,190

per month

Monthly costs by category

Show amounts in
CategoryAbu DhabiDubaiDifference
Rent6,9788,447+21%
Groceries1,1961,235+3%
Eating out897952+6%
Getting around387406+5%
Bills708735+4%
Going out321336+4%
Clothes8081+1%
Total per month10,56812,190+15%

Dubai is 15% more expensive than Abu Dhabi for one person renting in the city centre. The biggest gap is rent (+21%); clothes is the closest (+1%). Someone spending AED 10,568 a month in Abu Dhabi would need about AED 12,190 in Dubai for the same lifestyle. Rent takes 69% of the monthly budget in Dubai and 66% in Abu Dhabi.

Dubai: no reports yet, so these numbers are starting estimates from the city's overall price level.How this is calculated

Prices

Everyday prices in Dubai

The typical price people paid recently, and how it compares with Abu Dhabi. "Estimated" means we don't have many reports yet.

Show amounts in
ItemTypical priceWhat people paidvs Abu DhabiReports
Cappuccino, regularEstimated AED 13.17 +6% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Meal at an inexpensive restaurantEstimated AED 57.75 +7% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Monthly public transport passEstimated AED 339 +5% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
1-bedroom flat, city centreEstimated AED 8,447 +21% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
1-bedroom flat, outside the centreEstimated AED 6,082 +21% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Milk, 1 LEstimated AED 3.85 +3% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Eggs, 12Estimated AED 14.31 +3% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Chicken fillets, 1 kgEstimated AED 38.54 +3% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Electricity, water, heating and cooling for 85 m²Estimated AED 580 +4% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Home internet, 60 Mbps or fasterEstimated AED 186 +3% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Mobile plan with calls and 10 GB+ dataEstimated AED 172 +3% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Gym membership, monthlyEstimated AED 240 +4% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Cinema ticketEstimated AED 47.96 +4% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Jeans, Levi's 501 or similarEstimated AED 218 +1% vs Abu Dhabi 0 reports
Most reports (10th–90th percentile) Middle half of reports Same item in Abu Dhabi
All prices in Dubai

Method

Where the numbers come from

People who live in each city share what they paid. Every price is checked before it counts.

  1. People share prices

    Anyone can add what they paid, in their own currency. No account needed. A quick automatic check keeps bots out.

  2. We check every price

    Typos, wrong currencies and impossible amounts are caught. An unusual price only counts after someone else reports something similar.

  3. We work out the typical price

    We use the middle price of recent reports. When a city has only a few reports, we estimate the rest and label it "Estimated".

No reports in the last 30 days yet. When they arrive, you'll see here how many were counted, held for a second opinion or turned down.

Rankings

Most and least expensive cities

Monthly cost for one person renting in the city centre, in UAE dirhams. Pick a city to compare it with Abu Dhabi. See all 118 cities

Most expensive

  1. 1New YorkUnited StatesAED 20,901
  2. 2San FranciscoUnited StatesAED 17,812
  3. 3ZurichSwitzerlandAED 17,107
  4. 4BostonUnited StatesAED 16,927
  5. 5GenevaSwitzerlandAED 16,223
  6. 6SingaporeSingaporeAED 15,649
  7. 7LondonUnited KingdomAED 15,219
  8. 8Los AngelesUnited StatesAED 14,572

Least expensive

  1. 118KarachiPakistanAED 2,071
  2. 117KathmanduNepalAED 2,359
  3. 116CairoEgyptAED 2,508
  4. 115DhakaBangladeshAED 2,543
  5. 114New DelhiIndiaAED 3,013
  6. 113TunisTunisiaAED 3,032
  7. 112BengaluruIndiaAED 3,197
  8. 111Chiang MaiThailandAED 3,297

Comparisons

Popular comparisons

Cities people often weigh up against each other. Monthly cost for one person, rent in the centre included.

Directory

Browse cities by region

Rent, groceries, eating out and monthly budgets for every city we cover.

Asia 33

Europe 37

Americas 25

Middle East & Africa 17

Oceania 6

FAQ

Abu Dhabi vs Dubai: common questions

Is Dubai cheaper than Abu Dhabi?

No. One person renting a 1-bedroom flat in the centre spends about AED 12,190 a month in Dubai, against AED 10,568 in Abu Dhabi: 15% more.

How much is rent in Dubai compared with Abu Dhabi?

A 1-bedroom flat in the centre of Dubai rents for about AED 8,447 a month, +21% compared with AED 6,978 in Abu Dhabi. Outside the centre it's about AED 6,082 against AED 5,024.

How much money do I need to move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai?

To keep the lifestyle that costs AED 10,568 a month in Abu Dhabi, plan on about AED 12,190 in Dubai for one person. A family of four would need about AED 32,183, compared with AED 28,437 in Abu Dhabi.

How much does eating out cost in Dubai vs Abu Dhabi?

A meal at an inexpensive restaurant is about AED 57.75 in Dubai and AED 54.20 in Abu Dhabi. A regular cappuccino is about AED 13.17 against AED 12.42.

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