Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Addis Ababa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$1289
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$3111
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$739
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$1202
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$334
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$62.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$202
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	53	33
😀 Quality of life	85	46
🏙️ Population	1.57M	5.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 51% more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Cities ranked 2187th and 4519th ($1942 vs $1289) 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 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.2 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 443rd and 7005th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Addis Ababa infographic

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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	$10.9	$4.52
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$6.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$1.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$733
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$457
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$1328
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$823
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$97.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$149
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$129
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	18.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$2572
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$1694
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$9.94
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$3.63
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$1.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$2.24
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$12.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$6.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$0.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.87
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$0.61
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.98
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$0.64
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$6.51
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$0.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$5.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$2.54
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$1.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$0.42
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$0.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$62.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$3.72
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$182
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$1.82
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$45.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$93.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$94.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$30210

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	$1730
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2514
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1419
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1449
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2521
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1228
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1849
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1770
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$792
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1078
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1201
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1237
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1230
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1081
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$530
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$908
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1008
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$529
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$873
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$930
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$568
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$553
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$453
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$477
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$530
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$503
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$573
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$557
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$624
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$463
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1627
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1283
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Addis Ababa

Distance	City	Cost of living
222 km or 138 mi	Awasa	$1031
254 km or 158 mi	Dessie	$1039
258 km or 161 mi	Jimma	$802
320 km or 199 mi	Bahir Dar	$864
349 km or 217 mi	Dire Dawa	$1175
374 km or 232 mi	Harar	$1175
421 km or 261 mi	Gondar	$1016
447 km or 278 mi	Jijiga	$1169
460 km or 286 mi	Dikhil	$559
495 km or 308 mi	Ali Sabieh	$557
498 km or 309 mi	Borama	$502
502 km or 312 mi	Mekelle	$826
561 km or 348 mi	Djibouti City	$586
568 km or 353 mi	Ad-Damazin	$829
587 km or 365 mi	Hargeisa	$694
595 km or 370 mi	Obock	$560
651 km or 405 mi	Mendefera	$498
666 km or 414 mi	El-Gadarif	$925
701 km or 436 mi	Asmara	$533
735 km or 457 mi	Massawa	$499
752 km or 467 mi	Keren	$500
758 km or 471 mi	Kassala	$971
761 km or 473 mi	Zabid	$499
767 km or 476 mi	Taiz	$522
780 km or 485 mi	Malakal	$508
789 km or 490 mi	Al Hudaydah	$522
805 km or 500 mi	Aden	$517
806 km or 501 mi	Kosti	$857
807 km or 502 mi	Ibb	$512
851 km or 529 mi	Bor	$519
853 km or 530 mi	Baidoa	$724
870 km or 541 mi	Dhamar	$500
914 km or 568 mi	Sayyan	$498
914 km or 568 mi	Juba	$527
920 km or 572 mi	Sanaa	$560
989 km or 615 mi	Khartoum North	$879
995 km or 618 mi	Khartoum	$896
995 km or 618 mi	Gulu	$627
1005 km or 625 mi	Meru	$549
1006 km or 625 mi	Omdurman	$910