Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Addis Ababa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2070	$1269
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4485	$3044
🏠 One person rent	$1417	$758
🏘️ Family rent	$2400	$1254
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$318
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.3	$59.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2675	$172
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	51	34
😀 Quality of life	85	45
🏙️ Population	1.57M	5.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 63% more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Cities ranked 1859th and 4635th ($2070 vs $1269) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Ethiopia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.1 months in Addis Ababa. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Addis Ababa ranked 1st in Ethiopia, while ranked 447th and 7273rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/abu-dhabi/addis-ababa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/abu-dhabi/addis-ababa" target="_blank">Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa

Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Addis Ababa are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abu Dhabi	Addis Ababa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.29	$4.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$37.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.56	$6.52
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$0.96
☕ Cappuccino	$5.55	$0.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$0.66
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1520	$720
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1151	$503
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2679	$1317
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2026	$909
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.7	$99.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$153
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$97.1	$111
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.26%	18.68%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4936	$2197
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10145	$1437
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$9.93
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.58	$3.64
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.06
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.32
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$1.22
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.36	$1.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$8.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$5.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$0.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$0.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$0.55
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$0.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$6.29
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.38	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$5.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.82	$2.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$0.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.75	$0.4
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5	$0.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.9	$52.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$3.76
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.6	$153
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$2.11
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.9	$39.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.2	$86.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$649	$110
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13889	$30264

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2420
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1473
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1457
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2183
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1214
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2014
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1923
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$796
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1080
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1109
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1309
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1192
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1135
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$545
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$931
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1037
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$541
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$823
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$928
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$545
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$575
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$565
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$465
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$489
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$547
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$523
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$575
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$563
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$627
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$487
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1632
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1281
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$996
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$1022
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$775
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$863
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$1156
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$1153
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$1017
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$1152
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$572
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$570
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$509
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$810
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$601
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$771
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$712
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$571
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$498
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$858
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$531
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$497
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$498
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$931
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$491
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$514
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$510
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$515
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$526
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$800
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$504
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$522
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$743
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$494
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$492
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$528
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$551
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$819
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$832
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$627
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$542
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$848