What is the average cost of living in Dubai?

Living cost in Dubai

There are various reasons why people decide to leave their home countries and move to the UAE. It could be for opening business in Dubai, freelancing, looking for better employment opportunities or even retirement in UAE. This life-changing decision may be rewarding or risky depending on how much information you got regarding where you are heading to. 

Also, it may end up a good or bad decision depending on important factors like standard of living and costs of life. So, this is why we are going to walk you through everything you need to know about the average cost of living in Dubai.

Dubai is a major city in the United Arab Emirates. Marked with its excellence in the aspect of tourism, technology and quality of life, there's no doubt Dubai has become a great expat hub over the years. It's also referred to as a multinational city of the UAE.

Talking about the general standard of living, it may be high or low to some individuals depending on their financial status and personal lifestyle. 

Today's guide to the average cost of living in Dubai is going to cover three aspects of living including housing, food and transportation. You also will get a glimpse of average weekly shopping cost and education. Finally we will compare the cost of living between Dubai and other top cities of the world.

The cost of housing, food and transportation 

Although there are a considerable number of things to worry about while trying to migrate or settle in Dubai, we are going to start with housing, food and transportation. This is because these are the basic and most required of all the living factors. 

You will obviously need a roof over your head, food to sustain you and a means of transportation to anywhere in the city before considering other relevant things. So, next we are going to look at the approximate housing cost in Dubai.

Housing cost in Dubai 

The total housing cost in Dubai highly depends on the residential area you choose to live in. The places close to or at the heart of the city tend to be costlier than those in the suburbs. 

For example, the cost of housing in popular areas in Dubai like Dubai Marina, JLT, JBR, Downtown, Business bay etc. tend to be slightly above the average. This is because of their proximity to the city centre tourist attractions and business areas. 

On the other hand, the amount you spend on housing is also determined by the housing category like penthouse, villas, townhouses, and apartments. If you are going to live in apartments or bed spaces, the cost will of course be lower than that of the villas, penthouses, and townhouses. 

There are other factors to bear in mind while making housing estimates in Dubai. These factors include the property's age (old buildings tend to be cheaper), the finishing quality and the easy and free access to some recreational facilities like kids playground, gym, swimming pool etc.

Food - Dubai living cost

One inevitable aspect of living which you must take into serious account is grocery. The cost of food in the UAE is relatively moderate. 

Again, the average amount of grocery expenses may equally be dependent on your eating habits and the diet category. 

For example, in Dubai just like every other place, the cost of organic food products is higher than inorganics. Notwithstanding, we are still going to have a rough estimate of general feeding cost in Dubai. Below is a list of few food items and their prices:

TABLE Food items

So the list above is a rough estimate of the basic grocery and that doesn't mean it's constant. Prices of food items vary depending on the store you purchased them at. 

For example street stores or supermarkets tend to be slightly costlier than those located in malls and hypermarkets like Lulu and Carrefour. Although everyone wants the best in terms of feeding, no one would like to spend all the hard earned money on groceries. 

So, if you keep track of when groceries are sold at discount prices, you may happen to spend less on them. For example, some groceries stores in the malls sell at discount prices every Tuesday while others do so every Wednesday and Friday.  

You may happen to spend more on groceries on weekends. To know more about the prices of food items, you may check out these online catalogues from popular Dubai grocery stores:

Carrefour Market - check out at www.carrefouruae.com 
Lulu Hypermarket - check out at www.luluhypermarket.com 
The links above will also serve as a needful guide to making grocery rough estimates. 

Weekly shopping - average cost of living in Dubai

Making budgets for your weekly or monthly shopping has to align well with your finance or minimum salary. Some may prefer to do their shopping weekly or monthly for some reasons. 

Weekly shopping covers everything from groceries to other household items like bathing soaps, detergents, toothpastes etc. So, if you think it's more convenient or economical to shop weekly or monthly then it's all fine.

Dubai weekly shopping can be easily done online from the comfort of your home. Even small local shops always offer free delivery service and your items often reach you on the same day when you ordered them. 

The budget of your weekly shopping in Dubai highly depends on your lifestyle, number of family members, location of your residence and the type of accommodation you live at. 

Transportation costs in Dubai

Transportation is another essential need for anyone in the city of Dubai. The city is large and public transport is not very well developed. Many places may not be within your neighbourhood and even if you work from home, you may still need to go out of your vicinity. 

Also, you may not want to trek around anywhere in the UAE during the summer time. The amount of time you spend on the road and your chosen means of transportation determines how much you will spend weekly or monthly. For example, using a taxi will definitely be costlier than using public buses or the metro.

An average of 20 USD may be sufficient for your public transportation if you do not spend so much time on the road. Using a Dubai taxi costs nothing less than 3,3 USD per ride no matter how close your location is. 

On the other hand, if you drive an SUV car, you may be spending up to 55 USD on petrol per week. If you are a heavy traffic user, it may be more than that. 

But if you drive a saloon car, you may be spending 30 USD or less on petrol. Below is a clearer illustration with an average of 5 to 6 days per week.

UAE means of transportation per week and their average prices

Education costs in Dubai

Tuition fees in Dubai are relatively costly for the private schools, especially the ones at the city centre. Public schools tend to be less expensive, but the entire population, including local citizens, prefers private schooling.

Dubai main school curriculum types and costs:

The illustration above is just the basic tuition fee excluding additional payment for books, school uniforms, medicals etc.

Just as stated before, the cost of education in Dubai highly depends on the type of school you go for. The international baccalaureate is the most expensive in Dubai and the Indian schools are one of the most affordable. 

Let's briefly look at the cost of undergraduate and graduate studies. The illustration below summarises the university tuition fees in Dubai excluding additional charges for accommodation, books, registration etc. 

Dubai graduate fees:

Comparing the cost of living in Dubai to other major cities

Here we are going to give a comparison of the average cost of living between Dubai and some other major cities. This is going to be based on a single person’s average expenses. So if you are relocating to any of these places with a partner or as a family, you can as well make some additions accordingly. 

Below are the few big cities to compare with Dubai in standard of living:

• Singapore 
• London
• Toronto
• Hong-Kong
• California

Monthly cost of living in Singapore VS Dubai 

So the illustration shows that Singapore is upto 26% higher than Dubai.

Monthly cost of living in London VS Dubai 

Monthly cost of living in Dubai VS Toronto 

Monthly cost of living in Dubai VS Hong Kong

Monthly cost of living in Dubai VS California 

So the above illustrations and comparisons will either now or someday help with your travel plans to Dubai or any of the cities. 

There are so many other factors that may contribute to such examples going higher or lower. This has a lot to do with your personal standard of living. 

The information presented above was based on the data gathered from people's personal experience in these cities based on the average cost of living