Abu Dhabi vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Abu Dhabi Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1936
$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$4876
$3757
🏠 One person rent
$1291
$635
🏘️ Family rent
$2811
$1613
🍽️ Food expenses
$427
$308
🚐 Transport expenses
$65.9
$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$3588
$1455
😷 Air quality
Bad
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
11 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
52
100
😀 Quality of life
82
78
🏙️ Population
1.48M
24.9M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 63% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1938th and 4461st ($1936 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th 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 1.9 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. Abu Dhabi ranked 4th best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 369th and 558th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Shanghai infographic

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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
$9.91
$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$68.7
$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$9.78
$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$12.3
$1.7
☕ Cappuccino
$5.69
$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$1.27
$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$1396
$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$977
$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$3226
$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$2329
$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$121
$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$193
$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$109
$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
5.77%
4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$5079
$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$4566
$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$0.55
$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$21.7
$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$7.27
$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.82
$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.88
$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.29
$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.57
$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12
$3.07
$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$8.89
$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$7.37
$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$11.3
$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.32
$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.83
$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.98
$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.56
$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.09
$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$0.98
$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.38
$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.54
$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$15.1
$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$2.45
$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack
$5.81
$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$5.3
$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$5.96
$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$4.19
$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$3.51
$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$74.4
$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$13.1
$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$90.6
$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple
$13.6
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$72.1
$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers
$103
$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$717
$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$11210
$28143

Cost of living in other countries

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Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance City Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi Madinat Zayed
$1673
129 km or 80 mi Dubai
$2229
142 km or 88 mi Sharjah
$1612
143 km or 89 mi Al Ain
$1132
152 km or 94 mi Ajman
$1841
170 km or 105 mi Umm al-Quwain
$1577
211 km or 131 mi Fujairah
$1191
237 km or 147 mi Ras al-Khaimah
$1584
300 km or 187 mi Doha
$1872
318 km or 198 mi Al Khor
$1810
356 km or 221 mi Bandar Abbas
$758
365 km or 227 mi Nizwa
$787
395 km or 246 mi Seeb
$1164
425 km or 264 mi Riffa
$1285
427 km or 265 mi Manama
$1375
428 km or 266 mi Isa Town
$1327
439 km or 273 mi Muscat
$1126
454 km or 282 mi Jahrom
$798
468 km or 291 mi Dhahran
$959
481 km or 299 mi Dammam
$1005
486 km or 302 mi Al-Mubarraz
$768
501 km or 311 mi Fasa
$890
514 km or 320 mi Qatif
$868
548 km or 341 mi Jubail
$910
568 km or 353 mi Sirjan
$604
575 km or 357 mi Jiroft
$573
599 km or 372 mi Shiraz
$606
610 km or 379 mi Bushehr
$646
617 km or 384 mi Borazjan
$621
620 km or 385 mi Marvdasht
$604
632 km or 392 mi Kazerun
$606
637 km or 396 mi Chabahar
$779
649 km or 404 mi Bam
$544
678 km or 421 mi Rafsanjan
$530
698 km or 434 mi Kerman
$457
701 km or 435 mi Iranshahr
$672
741 km or 460 mi Yasuj
$561
775 km or 481 mi Riyadh
$1642
790 km or 491 mi Al Wafrah
$1256
792 km or 492 mi Behbahan
$541

Cities near Shanghai

Distance City Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi Pudong
$1074
47 km or 29 mi Taicang
$731
53 km or 33 mi Kunshan
$771
74 km or 46 mi Qidong
$763
82 km or 51 mi Suzhou
$1020
82 km or 51 mi Jiaxing
$596
85 km or 53 mi Haimen
$682
88 km or 55 mi Changshu
$731
106 km or 66 mi Nantong
$651
117 km or 73 mi Zhangjiagang
$678
121 km or 75 mi Wuxi
$687
135 km or 84 mi Huzhou
$699
141 km or 87 mi Jiangyin
$688
142 km or 88 mi Zhoushan
$690
144 km or 89 mi Ningbo
$677
148 km or 92 mi Jingjiang
$675
155 km or 96 mi Shaoxing
$755
158 km or 98 mi Yixing
$707
159 km or 99 mi Changzhou
$713
160 km or 100 mi Rugao
$682
161 km or 100 mi Hangzhou
$831
177 km or 110 mi Taixing
$665
179 km or 111 mi Hai'an
$679
191 km or 119 mi Liyang
$694
197 km or 122 mi Yangzhong
$625
198 km or 123 mi Guangde
$707
201 km or 125 mi Danyang
$625
208 km or 129 mi Taizhou
$651
217 km or 135 mi Dongtai
$703
223 km or 139 mi Zhenjiang
$524
235 km or 146 mi Yangzhou
$631
236 km or 146 mi Jurong
$645
244 km or 152 mi Ningguo
$720
246 km or 153 mi Yiwu
$725
250 km or 155 mi Xinghua
$696
250 km or 156 mi Yizheng
$617
259 km or 161 mi Linhai
$719
260 km or 161 mi Xuancheng
$789
262 km or 163 mi Gaoyou
$652
274 km or 170 mi Nanjing
$740