Abu Dhabi vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$2640
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$6276
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$1578
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$2764
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$549
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$366
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$4008
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	53	99
😀 Quality of life	85	100
🏙️ Population	1.57M	5.45M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 26% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 2187th and 649th ($1942 vs $2640) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Australia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 443rd and 3rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Sydney infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Sydney

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

	Abu Dhabi	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$13.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$77.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$9.79
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$7.2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$2.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$1915
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$1294
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$3447
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$2319
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$172
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$47.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	6.15%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$12628
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$7359
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$3.27
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$134
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$23.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$2.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$1.99
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$8.55
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$3.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$4.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.52
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$4.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$29.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$8.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$5.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$2.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$2.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$58.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$63.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$20
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$75.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$99.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$2071
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$19140

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2181
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2292
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1888
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1599
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1580
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1839
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1568
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1678
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1364
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2019
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1747
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1184
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1667
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1662
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1813
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2297
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2140
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1725
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1706
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1362
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1639
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1736
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1662
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1681
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2308
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1768
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1728
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1738
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2065
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1673
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1798
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2058
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1464
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1710