Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dubai and Khartoum

For one person, living is cheaper in Khartoum: $505 a month against $2,854 in Dubai, rent and utilities included – about $28,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

139

Cost of Living Index in Dubai
Learn more

Dubai Living Index
24

Cost of Living Index in Khartoum
Learn more

Khartoum Living Index

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Dubai

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

$2,854

/mo nomad

Khartoum

🇸🇩 Sudan

$505

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Dubai and in Khartoum

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,854 in Dubai versus $505 in Khartoum.

Dubai $2,854
Khartoum $505

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,321 in Dubai versus $681 in Khartoum.

Dubai $4,321
Khartoum $681

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,788 in Dubai versus $856 in Khartoum.

Dubai $5,788
Khartoum $856

Living in Dubai is roughly 465% more expensive than in Khartoum, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Dubai is 113% above, Khartoum is 62% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.04 AED 47.89

$2.34 SDG 1,401

457.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$81.4 AED 299

$14.08 SDG 8,425

478.05%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.32 AED 34.25

$2.64 SDG 1,579

253.03%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.40 SDG 1,434

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.15 SDG 1,289

Cappuccino

$5.97 AED 21.93

$2.73 SDG 1,633

118.68%

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

$1.63 AED 5.98

$0.52 SDG 314

213.46%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.81 AED 2.99

$0.35 SDG 212

131.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$13.65 AED 50.1

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$13.38 AED 49.15

Milk (1 liter)

$1.81 AED 6.64

$1.38 SDG 826

31.16%

White Bread (500g)

$1.57 AED 5.78

$1.39 SDG 829

12.95%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.49 AED 9.16

$1.42 SDG 853

75.35%

Eggs

$3.28 AED 12.04

$3.64 SDG 2,179

-9.89%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.67 AED 46.53

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.75 AED 35.80

$4.32 SDG 2,584

125.69%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.18 AED 48.40

Apples (1kg)

$2.61 AED 9.57

$4.27 SDG 2,555

-38.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.93 AED 7.09

$1.02 SDG 611

89.22%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.92 AED 7.05

$1.57 SDG 941

22.29%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.36 AED 5.00

$1.61 SDG 964

-15.53%

Potato (1kg)

$1.17 AED 4.29

$1.04 SDG 625

12.50%

Onion (1kg)

$1.01 AED 3.71

$0.74 SDG 444

36.49%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.51 AED 5.56

$0.57 SDG 340

164.91%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.62 AED 2.29

$0.56 SDG 336

10.71%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$3.97 SDG 2,374

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.77 SDG 463

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.69 SDG 1,010

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.85 AED 21.50

$1.86 SDG 1,114

214.52%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.14 AED 59.3

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.65 AED 9.74

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.95 AED 10.82

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.64 AED 6.03

$0.67 SDG 404

144.78%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$73.6 AED 270

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.17 AED 11.66

$3.80 SDG 2,274

-16.58%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.71 AED 2.63

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.96 AED 29.23

$4.88 SDG 2,923

63.11%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.99 AED 3.64

$1.16 SDG 693

-14.66%

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

$27.4K AED 100.5K

$4,970 SDG 3.0M

450.77%

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

$22.5K AED 82.8K

$10.1K SDG 6.0M

123.21%

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

$250 AED 920

$71.1 SDG 42.6K

251.98%

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

$54.2 AED 199

$9.87 SDG 5,906

449.54%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$91.8 AED 337

$32.81 SDG 19.6K

179.76%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$98.6 AED 362

$8.18 SDG 4,897

1105.75%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$42.61 AED 156

Cinema Ticket

$16.03 AED 58.9

$3.89 SDG 2,329

312.08%

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

$843 AED 3,098

$111 SDG 66.7K

656.67%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.3K AED 67.1K

$2,732 SDG 1.6M

568.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.0 AED 250

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$57.9 AED 213

$8.72 SDG 5,218

563.53%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$101 AED 370

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 AED 371

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,380 AED 8,741

$538 SDG 322.2K

342.11%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,506 AED 5,531

$170 SDG 101.9K

784.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$4,437 AED 16.3K

$1,243 SDG 743.7K

257.07%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,010 AED 11.1K

$164 SDG 98.4K

1730.83%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,121 AED 26.2K

$1,029 SDG 615.8K

592.05%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,135 AED 15.2K

$1,019 SDG 609.7K

305.96%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,391 AED 12.5K

$241 SDG 144.2K

1307.09%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.54

-84.87%

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

Last update for Dubai: October 5, 2026

Last update for Khartoum: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Dubai

$1.5K 52.5%

Khartoum

$170 34.2% 88.7% $1.3K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dubai

$396 13.8%

Khartoum

$114 22.8% 71.3% $283

Eating Out

Dubai

$309 10.8%

Khartoum

$63 12.6% 79.6% $246

Groceries & Markets

Dubai

$293 10.2%

Khartoum

$125 * 25.1% 57.3% $168

Clothing & Footwear

Dubai

$147 5.1%

Khartoum

$3.9 * 0.8% 97.3% $143

Sport & Entertainment

Dubai

$131 4.6%

Khartoum

$16 3.2% 87.8% $115

Getting Around

Dubai

$87 3%

Khartoum

$6.5 * 1.3% 92.5% $80

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 $2,380 in Dubai and $538 in Khartoum. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dubai pays 1307% 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: $81.0 in Dubai vs $14.00 in Khartoum for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $293 vs $125 per month, with Khartoum cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇪 Dubai

🇸🇩 Khartoum

🕒 Local time

15:25 3:25 PM

13:25 1:25 PM

2 h behind Dubai

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,790,000

2,682,431 Capital

💱 Currency

UAE Dirham AED د.إ

Sudanese Pound SDG £

📈 Exchange rate

1 AED = 0.272 USD

1 AED = 0.243 EUR

1,000 SDG = 1.67 USD

1,000 SDG = 1.49 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SDG, USD, EUR to AED – UAE Dirham Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇪 UAE Dirham (د.إ)

UAE Dirham exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 3.67 AED (1 AED = 0.272 USD). 1 EUR = 4.12 AED (1 AED = 0.243 EUR).

Sudanese Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 599 SDG (1,000 SDG = 1.67 USD). 1 EUR = 671 SDG (1,000 SDG = 1.49 EUR).

USD to AED in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Dubai Khartoum 2,580 km ≈ 3 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Dubai
Khartoum

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

Dubai vs Khartoum: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Khartoum is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. The 465% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 1307% higher in Dubai, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $2,380 in Dubai versus $538 in Khartoum. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 134% higher in Dubai. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $2,854 per month in Dubai versus $505 in Khartoum – a 465% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $505 in Khartoum versus $2,854 in Dubai, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Khartoum but tight or insufficient in Dubai. The gap between the two cities makes Khartoum the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Khartoum is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Dubai, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Dubai and Khartoum 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 Khartoum gentler on the wallet – expenses run 465% less than in Dubai. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.