Rent, eating out, groceries: Real cost of living the Dubai lifestyle

The emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are far more affordable to live in when compared to many other cities around the world. The three cities in the UAE stack up as the more affordable ones among the 494 cities ranked for the latest 2016 cost of living index.

Compiled by Numbeo, a database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide, the index calculates the ranking based on a range of costs, including rentals, groceries, travel, eating out and clothing, etc.

According to Numbeo’s 2016 Cost of Living Index, Dubai ranks at #189 out of the 494 cities that its index ranks, while Kuwait City in Kuwait at #30 emerges as the most expensive city to live in the Middle East. Qatar’s Doha is ranked at #196, followed by Beirut at #232 and Abu Dhabi at #261.

(Source: Numbeo)

Dubai is far more affordable when compared to global cities like Zurich (2), Geneva (4), San Francisco (13), New York (15), London (17), Washington (19), Tokyo (38), Chicago (40), Singapore (48), Hong Kong (57), Paris (60), Sydney (61), Los Angeles (100), Melbourne (130), Venice (143), and Frankfurt (158).

The most expensive cities to live in are mostly in Switzerland. Hamilton in Bermuda is the world’s costliest city to live in, followed by seven cities in Switzerland.

(Source: Numbeo)

India hosts the world’s most affordable cities

The most affordable cities on the list are all in India with most of them being in the south of the country.

At #494, Thiruvananthapuram in India – where a good number of UAE residents come from – is the cheapest city one can live in.

 (Source: Numbeo)

Fluctuating cost of living

Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey released last year put Dubai as the 23rd most expensive city in the world in 2015 (up from a rank of 67 in the previous year).

UAE capital Abu Dhabi, too, went up the rankings last year – moving from #68 in 2014 to #33 in 2015.

Nevertheless, both UAE cities remain considerably cheaper than other expat hotspots such as Hong Kong, Zurich, Singapore, Geneva, Tokyo, London and New York, among several others.

A strong dollar and increasing demand for housing have been cited as primary reasons for increased cost of living in the two UAE cities.

The Mercer survey is based on the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

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