Dubai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Dubai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2470	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5467	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$1665	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$2923	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$473	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	66	1
😀 Quality of life	90	30
🏙️ Population	3.94M	63.4K

The cost of living in Dubai is 370% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 947th and 8528th ($2470 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Kiribati, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 184th and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Dubai vs South Tarawa

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

	Dubai	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.74	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$6.41	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2083	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3820	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2306	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$222	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$92.6	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.56%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7283	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4305	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.5	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.1	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.62	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.4	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.92	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.94	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.13	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.4	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.1	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$82.8	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.6	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.7	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$870	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17401	$4506

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 South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649