Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cairo and Samarkand

For one person, living costs are similar in Cairo and in Samarkand: $611 and $636 a month, rent and utilities included.

29

Cost of Living Index in Cairo
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Cairo Living Index
31

Cost of Living Index in Samarkand
Learn more

Samarkand Living Index

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Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$611

/mo nomad

Samarkand

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

$636

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cairo and in Samarkand

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 Samarkand actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $611 per month in Cairo vs $636 in Samarkand, rent included.

Cairo $611
Samarkand $636

A couple spends around $970 per month in Cairo vs $1,013 in Samarkand, rent included.

Cairo $970
Samarkand $1,013

A family of three spends $1,329 per month in Cairo vs $1,391 in Samarkand, rent included.

Cairo $1,329
Samarkand $1,391

Cairo is about 4% cheaper than Samarkand, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Cairo and Samarkand are more affordable than the global median – Cairo 55% lower, Samarkand 53% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.51 E£252

$6.82 UZS 81.5K

-33.87%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$27.00 E£1,511

$19.65 UZS 235.0K

37.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.34 E£299

$4.78 UZS 57.2K

11.72%

Cappuccino

$1.72 E£96.0

$2.54 UZS 30.4K

-32.28%

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

$0.34 E£19.07

$0.76 UZS 9,039

-55.26%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.14 E£8.09

$0.21 UZS 2,497

-33.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.39 E£77.9

$1.64 UZS 19.7K

-15.24%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.15 E£120

$2.26 UZS 27.1K

-4.87%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.87 E£48.58

$1.07 UZS 12.8K

-18.69%

White Bread (500g)

$0.76 E£42.47

$0.32 UZS 3,790

137.50%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.63 E£35.12

$1.59 UZS 19.1K

-60.38%

Eggs

$1.09 E£60.9

$1.33 UZS 15.9K

-18.05%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$3.74 E£209

$8.19 UZS 97.9K

-54.33%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.61 E£258

$4.19 UZS 50.1K

10.02%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.42 E£471

$10.48 UZS 125.4K

-19.66%

Apples (1kg)

$1.69 E£94.4

$0.86 UZS 10.3K

96.51%

Banana (1kg)

$0.68 E£38.20

$1.76 UZS 21.0K

-61.36%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.56 E£31.13

$1.71 UZS 20.4K

-67.25%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.47 E£26.18

$1.71 UZS 20.4K

-72.51%

Potato (1kg)

$0.38 E£21.53

$0.51 UZS 6,156

-25.49%

Onion (1kg)

$0.39 E£21.82

$0.15 UZS 1,820

160.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.33 E£18.74

$0.26 UZS 3,139

26.92%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.22 E£12.33

$0.41 UZS 4,888

-46.34%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.85 E£104

$1.65 UZS 19.8K

12.12%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.24 E£405

$3.44 UZS 41.1K

110.47%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.42 E£79.3

$1.02 UZS 12.2K

39.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.98 E£111

$2.04 UZS 24.4K

-2.94%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 E£17.32

$0.24 UZS 2,859

29.17%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$7.17 E£401

$3.42 UZS 40.9K

109.65%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.35 E£19.47

$0.33 UZS 3,900

6.06%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.19 E£10.87

$0.32 UZS 3,887

-40.63%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.46 E£81.5

$3.40 UZS 40.6K

-57.06%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.40 E£22.36

$1.19 UZS 14.2K

-66.39%

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

$32.3K E£1.8M

$17.3K UZS 207.0M

86.71%

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

$24.9K E£1.4M

$21.1K UZS 252.5M

17.74%

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

$26.70 E£1,495

$41.16 UZS 492.3K

-35.13%

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

$7.51 E£420

$3.92 UZS 46.9K

91.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$14.02 E£785

$13.63 UZS 163.0K

2.86%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$27.01 E£1,512

$39.16 UZS 468.4K

-31.03%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.15 E£400

$6.56 UZS 78.5K

8.99%

Cinema Ticket

$4.41 E£247

$3.21 UZS 38.4K

37.38%

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

$117 E£6,527

$380 UZS 4.5M

-69.30%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,269 E£182.9K

$7,387 UZS 88.4M

-55.76%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$37.71 E£2,111

$20.48 UZS 245.0K

84.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$47.61 E£2,665

$41.29 UZS 493.9K

15.31%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$109 E£6,110

$75.4 UZS 901.5K

44.81%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$55.6 E£3,114

$59.2 UZS 707.5K

-5.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$203 E£11.4K

$239 UZS 2.9M

-15.05%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$188 E£10.5K

$164 UZS 2.0M

14.51%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$524 E£29.3K

$457 UZS 5.5M

14.71%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$318 E£17.8K

$319 UZS 3.8M

-0.22%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$793 E£44.4K

$1,248 UZS 14.9M

-36.42%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$484 E£27.1K

$536 UZS 6.4M

-9.83%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$185 E£10.3K

$306 UZS 3.7M

-39.62%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

23.31

-30.46%

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

Last update for Cairo: October 24, 2026

Last update for Samarkand: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cairo

$188 30.7%

Samarkand

$164 25.8% 12.7% $24

Groceries & Markets

Cairo

$131 21.5%

Samarkand

$157 24.6% 19.3% $25

Clothing & Footwear

Cairo

$113 18.4%

Samarkand

$88 13.9% 21.5% $24

Eating Out

Cairo

$86 14.1%

Samarkand

$116 18.3% 35.1% $30

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cairo

$48 7.9%

Samarkand

$59 9.2% 21.7% $10

Sport & Entertainment

Cairo

$36 5.9%

Samarkand

$46 7.2% 27.2% $9.8

Getting Around

Cairo

$9.7 1.6%

Samarkand

$6.3 1% 35% $3.4

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $203 in Cairo versus $239 in Samarkand. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 66% higher in Samarkand. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $27 in Cairo versus $20 in Samarkand. Groceries tell a different story – $131 in Cairo vs $157 in Samarkand – so Cairo wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Cairo

🇺🇿 Samarkand

🕒 Local time

10:51 10:51 AM

12:51 12:51 PM

2 h ahead of Cairo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,120,350 Capital

573,200

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

Uzbekistani Som UZS soʻm

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.79 USD

100 EGP = 1.61 EUR

100,000 UZS = 8.36 USD

100,000 UZS = 7.51 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

UZS, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 55.97 EGP (100 EGP = 1.79 USD). 1 EUR = 62.29 EGP (100 EGP = 1.61 EUR).

Uzbekistani Som exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 11,960 UZS (100,000 UZS = 8.36 USD). 1 EUR = 13,311 UZS (100,000 UZS = 7.51 EUR).

USD to EGP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cairo Samarkand 3,410 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Cairo
Samarkand

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 Samarkand: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Samarkand is pricier by about 4%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $917 per month in Cairo and $953 in Samarkand. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Cairo, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $203 there versus $239 in Samarkand.

Groceries cost about 19% more in Samarkand, though it depends on what you buy. Local produce may be comparable; imported and premium items show the biggest price gap.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $27 in Cairo and $20 in Samarkand. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

$1,000 covers both cities comfortably – all-in costs are $611 in Cairo and $636 in Samarkand, leaving budget for savings and extras in both cases.

Families tend to lean toward Cairo – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

If budget matters most, go with Cairo. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Samarkand makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.