Abu Dhabi vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2070	$686
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4485	$1784
🏠 One person rent	$1417	$237
🏘️ Family rent	$2400	$381
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$263
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.3	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2675	$113
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	51	35
😀 Quality of life	85	50
🏙️ Population	1.57M	2.47M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 202% more expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 1859th and 7322nd ($2070 vs $686) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 9th in the United Arab Emirates and Zambia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.2 months in Lusaka. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 447th and 6732nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Lusaka

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

	Abu Dhabi	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.29	$7.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$23.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.56	$3.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$1.02
☕ Cappuccino	$5.55	$2.05
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.15	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1520	$236
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1151	$129
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2679	$431
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2026	$236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.7	$35.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$55.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$97.1	$51
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.26%	25.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4936	$1955
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10145	$4123
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$38.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.58	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.57
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.36	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$7.18
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$4.53
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$5.26
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$3.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.85
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.95
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$2.13
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$1.42
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$7.32
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.38	$1.12
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.82	$6.74
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$3.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.75	$1.69
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5	$1.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.9	$43
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$4.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.6	$17.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$6.47
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.9	$18.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.2	$73.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$649	$178
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13889	$13300

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 Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$815
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$750
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$613
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1189
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1473
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1229
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$754
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$718
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1024
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$706
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$768
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$1030
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$577
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1039
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$630
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$828
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$861
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1039
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$764
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$591
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$633
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$1002
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$924
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$495
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$530
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$505
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$521
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$458
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$496
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$527
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$551
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1000
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$628
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$469
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$692