Abu Dhabi vs Barcelona - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Barcelona
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$2087
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$4665
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$1268
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$2065
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$498
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$170
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$2248
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	53	98
😀 Quality of life	85	90
🏙️ Population	1.57M	1.7M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 7% less expensive than in Barcelona. Cities ranked 2187th and 1764th ($1942 vs $2087) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in the United Arab Emirates and Spain, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.1 months in Barcelona. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Barcelona ranked 2nd in Spain, while ranked 443rd and 229th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Barcelona infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Barcelona

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

	Abu Dhabi	Barcelona
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$64
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$13.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$5.66
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$3.44
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$2.75
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$1373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$1063
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$2298
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$1757
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$107
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$36.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	3.22%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$6508
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$4968
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$2.94
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$22.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$1.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$1.53
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$3.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$16.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$9.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$18
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.66
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$2.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.59
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$1.36
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$7.04
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$6.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$3.42
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$2.03
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$2.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$57.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$11.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$71.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$20.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$87.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$717
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$15137

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 Barcelona

Distance	City	Cost of living
7 km or 4.4 mi	L'Hospitalet de Llobregat	$1746
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Badalona	$2170
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1603
12 km or 7.5 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1557
13 km or 8 mi	Ripollet	$1687
17 km or 11 mi	Rubi	$1598
19 km or 12 mi	Sabadell	$1637
24 km or 15 mi	Terrassa	$1590
27 km or 17 mi	Granollers	$1610
28 km or 18 mi	Mataro	$1575
42 km or 26 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1408
48 km or 30 mi	Manresa	$1200
61 km or 38 mi	Vic	$1192
65 km or 40 mi	Lloret de Mar	$1322
83 km or 52 mi	Tarragona	$1445
85 km or 53 mi	Girona	$1580
117 km or 73 mi	Figueres	$1490
131 km or 81 mi	Lleida	$1229
136 km or 85 mi	Andorra la Vella	$1828
141 km or 88 mi	Ordino	$1839
158 km or 98 mi	Perpignan	$1374
176 km or 109 mi	Vinaros	$1468
206 km or 128 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$1930
208 km or 129 mi	Ciutadella de Menorca	$1608
212 km or 131 mi	Narbonne	$1216
230 km or 143 mi	Huesca	$1157
234 km or 145 mi	Beziers	$1501
242 km or 150 mi	Mahon	$1632
245 km or 152 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1158
247 km or 154 mi	Castres	$1555
250 km or 156 mi	Villarreal	$1212
253 km or 157 mi	Borriana	$1239
254 km or 158 mi	Toulouse	$1657
257 km or 159 mi	Zaragoza	$1457
269 km or 167 mi	Tarbes	$1531
281 km or 174 mi	Sagunto	$1363
282 km or 175 mi	Ibiza	$2804
284 km or 177 mi	Montpellier	$1593
299 km or 186 mi	Pau	$1318
303 km or 189 mi	Valencia	$1703