Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mersa Matruh and Dubai

For one person, living is cheaper in Mersa Matruh: $428 a month against $2,889 in Dubai, rent and utilities included – about $29,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

20

Cost of Living Index in Mersa Matruh
Learn more

Mersa Matruh Living Index
139

Cost of Living Index in Dubai
Learn more

Dubai Living Index

Jump to prices

Mersa Matruh

🇪🇬 Egypt

$428

/mo nomad

Dubai

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

$2,889

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mersa Matruh and in Dubai

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $428 in Mersa Matruh versus $2,889 in Dubai.

Mersa Matruh $428
Dubai $2,889

Estimated couple costs with rent: $699 in Mersa Matruh versus $4,444 in Dubai.

Mersa Matruh $699
Dubai $4,444

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $970 in Mersa Matruh versus $5,999 in Dubai.

Mersa Matruh $970
Dubai $5,999

Living in Mersa Matruh costs roughly 85% less than in Dubai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mersa Matruh is 68% below, Dubai is 114% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.91 E£211

$12.94 AED 47.54

-69.78%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$17.51 E£943

$83.2 AED 306

-78.96%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.48 E£241

$9.35 AED 34.32

-52.09%

Cappuccino

$1.17 E£63.0

$5.88 AED 21.59

-80.10%

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

$0.30 E£16.28

$1.57 AED 5.77

-80.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.11 E£6.12

$0.94 AED 3.47

-88.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.22 E£65.7

$13.44 AED 49.37

-90.92%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.74 E£148

$13.57 AED 49.84

-79.81%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.83 E£44.57

$1.86 AED 6.83

-55.38%

White Bread (500g)

$0.68 E£36.50

$1.56 AED 5.73

-56.41%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.57 E£30.46

$2.64 AED 9.68

-78.41%

Eggs

$1.05 E£56.7

$3.53 AED 12.96

-70.25%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$3.68 E£198

$12.97 AED 47.62

-71.63%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.99 E£215

$9.94 AED 36.51

-59.86%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.71 E£469

$12.92 AED 47.45

-32.59%

Apples (1kg)

$1.41 E£75.8

$2.55 AED 9.36

-44.71%

Banana (1kg)

$0.73 E£39.49

$2.05 AED 7.54

-64.39%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.52 E£27.79

$1.84 AED 6.77

-71.74%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.30 E£16.04

$1.54 AED 5.64

-80.52%

Potato (1kg)

$0.23 E£12.32

$1.17 AED 4.31

-80.34%

Onion (1kg)

$0.30 E£16.38

$1.02 AED 3.76

-70.59%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.23 E£12.31

$1.57 AED 5.75

-85.35%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.20 E£10.72

$0.67 AED 2.46

-70.15%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.80 E£96.9

$6.31 AED 23.17

-71.47%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.36 E£289

$16.16 AED 59.4

-66.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.15 E£62.0

$2.58 AED 9.48

-55.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.05 E£111

$2.89 AED 10.60

-29.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.20 E£10.68

$1.40 AED 5.15

-85.71%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$82.4 AED 303

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.54 E£29.09

$3.29 AED 12.07

-83.59%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.20 E£10.51

$0.65 AED 2.40

-69.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.11 E£59.6

$8.13 AED 29.84

-86.35%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.41 E£22.01

$1.00 AED 3.68

-59.00%

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

$31.5K E£1.7M

$26.3K AED 96.6K

19.87%

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

$24.4K E£1.3M

$22.0K AED 81.0K

10.71%

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

$13.09 E£705

$239 AED 877

-94.52%

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

$6.35 E£342

$56.9 AED 209

-88.84%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.61 E£679

$93.9 AED 345

-86.57%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$15.16 E£816

$90.8 AED 334

-83.31%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$46.38 AED 170

Cinema Ticket

$2.60 E£140

$16.24 AED 59.6

-83.99%

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

$82.3 E£4,431

$934 AED 3,429

-91.19%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$1,992 E£107.3K

$20.9K AED 76.8K

-90.48%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$31.15 E£1,677

$70.7 AED 260

-55.93%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.14 E£2,269

$61.3 AED 225

-31.30%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$119 E£6,415

$103 AED 377

15.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$53.4 E£2,874

$116 AED 426

-54.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$129 E£6,930

$2,487 AED 9,134

-94.83%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$71.9 E£3,873

$1,520 AED 5,581

-95.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$247 E£13.3K

$5,234 AED 19.2K

-95.28%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$133 E£7,167

$3,028 AED 11.1K

-95.60%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$698 E£37.6K

$6,982 AED 25.6K

-90.00%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$322 E£17.4K

$4,433 AED 16.3K

-92.73%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$89.4 E£4,813

$3,553 AED 13.0K

-97.48%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

21.33

4.57

366.74%

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

Last update for Mersa Matruh: October 31, 2026

Last update for Dubai: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Mersa Matruh

$119 27.7%

Dubai

$297 10.3% 150% $178

Clothing & Footwear

Mersa Matruh

$111 25.8%

Dubai

$158 5.5% 42.7% $47

Eating Out

Mersa Matruh

$72 16.8%

Dubai

$307 10.6% 326% $235

Accommodation & Living

Mersa Matruh

$72 16.8%

Dubai

$1.5K 52.6% 2013% $1.4K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mersa Matruh

$32 7.5%

Dubai

$390 13.5% 1116% $358

Sport & Entertainment

Mersa Matruh

$20 4.8%

Dubai

$123 4.3% 506% $103

Getting Around

Mersa Matruh

$2.3 * 0.5%

Dubai

$95 3.3% 3995% $92

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 $129 in Mersa Matruh and $2,487 in Dubai. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dubai pays about 40 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $18 in Mersa Matruh vs $83 in Dubai for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $119 vs $297 per month, with Mersa Matruh cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Mersa Matruh

🇦🇪 Dubai

🕒 Local time

11:10 11:10 AM

13:10 1:10 PM

2 h ahead of Mersa Matruh

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

140,000

3,790,000

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

UAE Dirham AED د.إ

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.86 USD

100 EGP = 1.65 EUR

1 AED = 0.272 USD

1 AED = 0.242 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

AED, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 53.85 EGP (100 EGP = 1.86 USD). 1 EUR = 60.48 EGP (100 EGP = 1.65 EUR).

UAE Dirham exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 3.67 AED (1 AED = 0.272 USD). 1 EUR = 4.12 AED (1 AED = 0.242 EUR).

USD to EGP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mersa Matruh Dubai 2,820 km ≈ 4 h nonstop flight

From you

Mersa Matruh
Dubai

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

Mersa Matruh vs Dubai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mersa Matruh is about 85% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and utilities. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 97% lower in Mersa Matruh. 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: $129 in Mersa Matruh versus $2,487 in Dubai. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 150% higher in Dubai. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $428 per month in Mersa Matruh versus $2,889 in Dubai – Mersa Matruh is about 85% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $428 in Mersa Matruh versus $2,889 in Dubai, a $800 budget is realistic in Mersa Matruh but tight or insufficient in Dubai. The gap between the two cities makes Mersa Matruh 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.

It comes down to priorities – Mersa Matruh wins on affordability, Dubai on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.