Abu Dhabi vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Abu Dhabi	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$412
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4670	$998
🏠 One person rent	$1489	$158
🏘️ Family rent	$2612	$234
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$164
🚐 Transport expenses	$73.8	$36.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2773	$351
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	51	5
😀 Quality of life	85	43
🏙️ Population	1.57M	115K

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 418% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 1650th and 8941st ($2133 vs $412) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Bhutan, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.9 months in Thimphu. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 424th and 7454th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Thimphu

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

	Abu Dhabi	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.11	$2.59
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$14.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$3.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.9	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$1.7
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$0.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1728	$166
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1197	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3067	$234
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$172
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$19.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$29.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$88	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.64%	10.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4681	$657
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8556	$762
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$1.4
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.6	$11.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.63	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$0.71
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$0.77
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$0.66
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$0.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$1.72
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$4.75
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.69	$4.07
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$3.93
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$2.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$1.43
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$0.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$0.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$5.41
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$0.58
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.55	$3.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.49	$1.44
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$3.27
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.56	$1.13
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.22	$0.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.8	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$2.92
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.9	$26.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$2.96
👖 Brand Jeans	$63.1	$29.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$48.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$628	$263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14421	$600

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	$1791
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2470
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1543
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1455
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2356
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1173
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$2100
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$2015
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$797
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1082
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1062
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1340
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1218
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1193
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$494
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$965
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1059
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$497
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$778
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$917
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$521
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$526
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$505
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$454
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$457
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$485
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$471
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$530
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$514
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$700
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$559
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$459
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1628
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1247
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$437
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$282
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$307
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$320
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$960
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$303
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$287
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$325
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$303
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$321
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$288
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$1034
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$270
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$297
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$336
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$289
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$278
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$264
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$245
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$289
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$327
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$287
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$288
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$357
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$329
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$424
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$336
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$478
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$342
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$348
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$263
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$288
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$317
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$326
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$285
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$293
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$272
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$268
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$274