Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cairo and Aalst

For one person, living is cheaper in Cairo: $647 a month against $2,067 in Aalst, rent and utilities included – about $17,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

32

Cost of Living Index in Cairo
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Cairo Living Index
101

Cost of Living Index in Aalst
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Aalst Living Index

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Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$647

/mo nomad

Aalst

🇧🇪 Belgium

$2,067

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cairo and in Aalst

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Cairo and in Aalst actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $647 in Cairo versus $2,067 in Aalst.

Cairo $647
Aalst $2,067

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,035 in Cairo versus $3,086 in Aalst.

Cairo $1,035
Aalst $3,086

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,423 in Cairo versus $4,105 in Aalst.

Cairo $1,423
Aalst $4,105

Living in Cairo costs roughly 69% less than in Aalst, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cairo is 52% below, Aalst is 53% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.64 E£245

$22.53 €20.10

-79.41%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$28.12 E£1,483

$106 €94.3

-73.39%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.03 E£318

$13.43 €11.99

-55.10%

Cappuccino

$1.72 E£91.0

$4.43 €3.95

-61.17%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.36 E£19.14

$3.63 €3.24

-90.08%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.12 E£6.33

$3.17 €2.83

-96.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.51 E£79.4

$5.55 €4.96

-72.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.32 E£122

$5.53 €4.93

-58.05%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.92 E£48.32

$1.31 €1.17

-29.77%

White Bread (500g)

$0.73 E£38.44

$2.81 €2.51

-74.02%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.74 E£39.15

$2.13 €1.90

-65.26%

Eggs

$1.19 E£62.9

$3.83 €3.42

-68.93%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.33 E£229

$17.39 €15.52

-75.10%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.03 E£265

$11.87 €10.59

-57.62%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.28 E£489

$22.29 €19.90

-58.37%

Apples (1kg)

$1.77 E£93.2

$2.99 €2.67

-40.80%

Banana (1kg)

$0.73 E£38.55

$2.43 €2.17

-69.96%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.55 E£29.15

$2.67 €2.38

-79.40%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.50 E£26.58

$3.23 €2.88

-84.52%

Potato (1kg)

$0.42 E£22.14

$2.47 €2.21

-83.00%

Onion (1kg)

$0.41 E£21.54

$1.95 €1.74

-78.97%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.33 E£17.30

$1.54 €1.37

-78.57%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.21 E£11.06

$1.05 €0.94

-80.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.98 E£104

$12.93 €11.54

-84.69%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.81 E£412

$8.74 €7.80

-10.64%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.59 E£83.6

$1.72 €1.54

-7.56%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.09 E£110

$2.08 €1.85

0.48%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.35 E£18.60

$3.09 €2.76

-88.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.69 E£458

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.39 E£20.76

$2.86 €2.55

-86.36%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.22 E£11.43

$2.35 €2.09

-90.64%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.51 E£79.5

$40.40 €36.05

-96.26%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.43 E£22.59

$2.12 €1.89

-79.72%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$32.7K E£1.7M

$34.7K €30.9K

-5.66%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$27.2K E£1.4M

$32.8K €29.3K

-17.02%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$27.27 E£1,438

$203 €181

-86.55%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$8.58 E£453

$21.94 €19.58

-60.89%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$13.99 E£738

$50.8 €45.37

-72.48%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$29.69 E£1,566

$36.21 €32.32

-18.01%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.25 E£383

$21.03 €18.77

-65.53%

Cinema Ticket

$4.86 E£256

$15.18 €13.55

-67.98%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$121 E£6,359

$1,605 €1,433

-92.49%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,560 E£187.7K

$33.7K €30.1K

-89.45%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$40.28 E£2,125

$113 €101

-64.36%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.53 E£2,612

$46.17 €41.21

7.28%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$115 E£6,061

$102 €90.9

12.82%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.0 E£3,167

$163 €146

-63.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$222 E£11.7K

$911 €813

-75.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$195 E£10.3K

$808 €721

-75.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$550 E£29.0K

$1,384 €1,236

-60.30%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$346 E£18.3K

$1,104 €985

-68.64%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$800 E£42.2K

$4,162 €3,714

-80.79%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$525 E£27.7K

$2,890 €2,580

-81.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$200 E£10.5K

$2,782 €2,483

-92.82%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

3.46

368.50%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cairo: October 11, 2026

Last update for Aalst: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cairo

$195 30.2%

Aalst

$807 39.1% 314% $612

Groceries & Markets

Cairo

$142 21.9%

Aalst

$360 17.4% 154% $218

Clothing & Footwear

Cairo

$119 18.4%

Aalst

$191 9.2% 60.3% $72

Eating Out

Cairo

$90 13.9%

Aalst

$340 16.4% 277% $250

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cairo

$50 7.7%

Aalst

$276 13.3% 453% $226

Sport & Entertainment

Cairo

$39 6.1%

Aalst

$67 3.2% 68.9% $27

Getting Around

Cairo

$12 1.8%

Aalst

$27 * 1.3% 133% $15

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $222 in Cairo and $911 in Aalst. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Aalst pays 1293% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $28.00 in Cairo vs $106 in Aalst for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $142 vs $360 per month, with Cairo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Cairo

🇧🇪 Aalst

🕒 Local time

09:27 9:27 AM

08:27 8:27 AM

1 h behind Cairo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,120,350 Capital

78,271

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.9 USD

100 EGP = 1.69 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 14, 2026: 1 USD = 52.74 EGP (100 EGP = 1.9 USD). 1 EUR = 59.02 EGP (100 EGP = 1.69 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 14, 2026: 1 USD = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to EGP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cairo Aalst 3,230 km ≈ 4 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Cairo
Aalst

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Cairo vs Aalst: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cairo and Aalst differ by about 220% in total monthly costs ($647 vs $2,067 including rent). Cairo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 1293% lower in Aalst. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $222 in Cairo versus $911 in Aalst. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 154% higher in Aalst. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $647 per month in Cairo versus $2,067 in Aalst – a 220% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $647 in Cairo versus $2,067 in Aalst, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cairo but tight or insufficient in Aalst. The gap between the two cities makes Cairo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Cairo and Aalst are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Cairo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 220% less than in Aalst. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.