Dubai vs Reykjavik - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Dubai	Reykjavik
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2470	$3205
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5467	$6762
🏠 One person rent	$1665	$1954
🏘️ Family rent	$2923	$2956
🍽️ Food expenses	$473	$904
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$100
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$4423
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	66	53
😀 Quality of life	90	88
🏙️ Population	3.94M	139K

The cost of living in Dubai is 23% less expensive than in Reykjavik. Cities ranked 947th and 119th ($2470 vs $3205) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Iceland, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Iceland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 1.4 months in Reykjavik. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Reykjavik ranked 1st in Iceland, while ranked 184th and 258th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Dubai vs Reykjavik

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

	Dubai	Reykjavik
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$28.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$97.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.74	$20
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$13.4
☕ Cappuccino	$6.41	$6.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$3.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2083	$2129
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$1743
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3820	$3328
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2306	$2660
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$52.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$222	$80.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$92.6	$82
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.56%	8.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7283	$7748
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4305	$6175
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$5.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.5	$90.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.1	$28.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$2.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$2.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$4.21
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$3.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.62	$6.99
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$20.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.4	$24.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$44.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$2.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$3.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$5.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$3.65
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$1.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.16
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.92	$3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$23.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.94	$3.72
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.13	$13.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$5.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.4	$5.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.1	$3.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$82.8	$90.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$19.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.6	$92.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$47.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.7	$146
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$178
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$870	$472
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17401	$30029

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dubai

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8 mi	Sharjah	$1543
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2356
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1173
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1455
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2133
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1791
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1082
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$797
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2100
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1193
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$2015
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$494
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$497
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$526
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$521
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1340
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1062
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1218
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$514
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$965
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$530
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1059
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$505
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$778
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$485
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$559
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$700
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$917
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$457
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$471
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$454
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$459
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$717
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$517
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near Reykjavik

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	Kopavogur	$3092
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Hafnarfjorur	$3106
38 km or 24 mi	Keflavik	$2581
247 km or 153 mi	Akureyri	$2921
795 km or 494 mi	Torshavn	$2017
1204 km or 748 mi	Inverness	$2005
1230 km or 764 mi	Elgin	$1523
1300 km or 808 mi	Derry	$1646
1309 km or 813 mi	Greenock	$1647
1321 km or 821 mi	Aberdeen	$1806
1325 km or 823 mi	Perth	$1640
1328 km or 825 mi	Stirling	$1835
1331 km or 827 mi	Paisley	$1885
1333 km or 828 mi	Alloa	$1842
1337 km or 831 mi	Glasgow	$2114
1339 km or 832 mi	Dundee	$1593
1340 km or 833 mi	Omagh	$1763
1341 km or 833 mi	Cumbernauld	$1611
1342 km or 834 mi	Irvine	$1704
1348 km or 838 mi	East Kilbride	$1878
1349 km or 838 mi	Kilmarnock	$1600
1351 km or 839 mi	Dunfermline	$1750
1353 km or 841 mi	Hamilton	$1831
1357 km or 843 mi	Ayr	$1586
1360 km or 845 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1794
1365 km or 848 mi	Livingston	$1760
1372 km or 852 mi	Edinburgh	$2295
1382 km or 859 mi	Newtownabbey	$1820
1387 km or 862 mi	Belfast	$1878
1390 km or 864 mi	Bangor	$1485
1391 km or 864 mi	Lisburn	$1923
1401 km or 871 mi	Alesund	$2021
1413 km or 878 mi	Galway	$3003
1425 km or 886 mi	Dundalk	$2264
1431 km or 889 mi	Dumfries	$1456
1433 km or 891 mi	Nuuk	$2508
1441 km or 895 mi	Molde	$2101
1454 km or 903 mi	Kristiansund	$1944
1455 km or 904 mi	Drogheda	$2518
1455 km or 904 mi	Bergen	$2336