Dubai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dubai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2420	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5315	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$1634	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$2835	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$459	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$182	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4093	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	66	1
😀 Quality of life	90	28
🏙️ Population	3.94M	63.4K

The cost of living in Dubai is 349% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 1039th and 8474th ($2420 vs $538) 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 203rd and 8872nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$10.2	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.2	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.33	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$6.31	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.3	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1988	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1244	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3617	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2237	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$227	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$94	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.46%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7290	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.52	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.89	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.39	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.73	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.09	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.86	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.57	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.2	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.08	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.5	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.5	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.2	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.2	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$829	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16876	$4200

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	$1473
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2183
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1214
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1457
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2070
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1080
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$796
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2014
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1135
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1923
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$545
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$541
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$575
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$545
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1309
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1109
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1192
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$563
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$931
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$575
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1037
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$565
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$823
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$547
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$627
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$928
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$489
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$523
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$465
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$487
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$813
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$565
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610