Abu Dhabi vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison
Updated:
| Abu Dhabi | Shanghai | |
|---|---|---|
| 🚶 Cost of living one person | ||
| 👨👩👧👦 Cost of living Family | ||
| 🏠 One person rent | ||
| 🏘️ Family rent | ||
| 🍽️ Food expenses | ||
| 🚐 Transport expenses | ||
| 💳 Monthly salary after tax | ||
| 😷 Air quality | ||
| ✈️ Airport proximity | ||
| 🎓 Higher education | ||
| 😀 Quality of life | ||
| 🏙️ Population |
The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 84% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1859th and 4971st ($2070 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 5th in the United Arab Emirates and China, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs China comparison.
The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 447th and 1655th among best cities to live in the world.
Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power
Share this infographic!
Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Shanghai
Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.
| Abu Dhabi | Shanghai | |
|---|---|---|
| Eating Out | ||
| 🍱 Lunch Menu | ||
| 🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2 | ||
| 🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's | ||
| 🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | ||
| ☕ Cappuccino | ||
| 🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz | ||
| Rent & Utilities | ||
| 🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | ||
| 🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | ||
| 🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc. | ||
| 🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc. | ||
| 🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited | ||
| 🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years | ||
| 🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | ||
| Transportation | ||
| 🚌 Local transport ticket | ||
| 🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport | ||
| 🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi | ||
| ⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal | ||
| Groceries | ||
| 🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt | ||
| 🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb | ||
| 🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥚 Eggs, x12 | ||
| 🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt | ||
| 🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz | ||
| 🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle | ||
| 🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | ||
| 🚬 Cigarette pack | ||
| 💊 Cold medicince, 1 week | ||
| 🧴 Hair Shampoo | ||
| 🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls | ||
| 👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube | ||
| Other | ||
| 🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month | ||
| 🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person | ||
| 👩⚕️ Doctor's visit | ||
| 💇 Haircut, simple | ||
| 👖 Brand Jeans | ||
| 👟 Brand Sneakers | ||
| 👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month | ||
| 🏫 International Primary School, 1 year | ||
Cost of living in other countries
Cost of living
More cities to compare
Cost of Living in the nearest cities
Cities near Abu Dhabi
| Distance | City | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|
| 117 km or 73 mi |  Madinat Zayed | |
| 129 km or 80 mi | Dubai | |
| 142 km or 88 mi | Sharjah | |
| 143 km or 89 mi | Al Ain | |
| 152 km or 94 mi | Ajman | |
| 170 km or 105 mi | Umm al-Quwain | |
| 211 km or 131 mi | Fujairah | |
| 237 km or 147 mi | Ras al-Khaimah | |
| 300 km or 187 mi |  Doha | |
| 318 km or 198 mi | Al Khor | |
| 356 km or 221 mi |  Bandar Abbas | |
| 365 km or 227 mi |  Nizwa | |
| 395 km or 246 mi | Seeb | |
| 425 km or 264 mi |  Riffa | |
| 427 km or 265 mi | Manama | |
| 428 km or 266 mi | Isa Town | |
| 439 km or 273 mi | Muscat | |
| 454 km or 282 mi | Jahrom | |
| 468 km or 291 mi |  Dhahran | |
| 481 km or 299 mi | Dammam | |
| 486 km or 302 mi | Al-Mubarraz | |
| 501 km or 311 mi | Fasa | |
| 514 km or 320 mi | Qatif | |
| 548 km or 341 mi | Jubail | |
| 568 km or 353 mi | Sirjan | |
| 575 km or 357 mi | Jiroft | |
| 599 km or 372 mi | Shiraz | |
| 610 km or 379 mi | Bushehr | |
| 617 km or 384 mi | Borazjan | |
| 620 km or 385 mi | Marvdasht | |
| 632 km or 392 mi | Kazerun | |
| 637 km or 396 mi | Chabahar | |
| 649 km or 404 mi | Bam | |
| 678 km or 421 mi | Rafsanjan | |
| 698 km or 434 mi | Kerman | |
| 701 km or 435 mi | Iranshahr | |
| 741 km or 460 mi | Yasuj | |
| 775 km or 481 mi | Riyadh | |
| 790 km or 491 mi |  Al Wafrah | |
| 792 km or 492 mi | Behbahan |
Cities near Shanghai
| Distance | City | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|
| 9.4 km or 5.8 mi |  Pudong | |
| 47 km or 29 mi | Taicang | |
| 53 km or 33 mi | Kunshan | |
| 74 km or 46 mi | Qidong | |
| 82 km or 51 mi | Suzhou | |
| 82 km or 51 mi | Jiaxing | |
| 85 km or 53 mi | Haimen | |
| 88 km or 55 mi | Changshu | |
| 106 km or 66 mi | Nantong | |
| 117 km or 73 mi | Zhangjiagang | |
| 121 km or 75 mi | Wuxi | |
| 135 km or 84 mi | Huzhou | |
| 141 km or 87 mi | Jiangyin | |
| 142 km or 88 mi | Zhoushan | |
| 144 km or 89 mi | Ningbo | |
| 148 km or 92 mi | Jingjiang | |
| 155 km or 96 mi | Shaoxing | |
| 158 km or 98 mi | Yixing | |
| 159 km or 99 mi | Changzhou | |
| 160 km or 100 mi | Rugao | |
| 161 km or 100 mi | Hangzhou | |
| 177 km or 110 mi | Taixing | |
| 179 km or 111 mi | Hai'an | |
| 191 km or 119 mi | Liyang | |
| 197 km or 122 mi | Yangzhong | |
| 198 km or 123 mi | Guangde | |
| 201 km or 125 mi | Danyang | |
| 208 km or 129 mi | Taizhou | |
| 217 km or 135 mi | Dongtai | |
| 223 km or 139 mi | Zhenjiang | |
| 235 km or 146 mi | Yangzhou | |
| 236 km or 146 mi | Jurong | |
| 244 km or 152 mi | Ningguo | |
| 246 km or 153 mi | Yiwu | |
| 250 km or 155 mi | Xinghua | |
| 250 km or 156 mi | Yizheng | |
| 259 km or 161 mi | Linhai | |
| 260 km or 161 mi | Xuancheng | |
| 262 km or 163 mi | Gaoyou | |
| 274 km or 170 mi | Nanjing |