Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phuket and Sharjah

For one person, living is cheaper in Phuket: $1,278 a month against $1,726 in Sharjah, rent and utilities included – about $5,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index
83

Cost of Living Index in Sharjah
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Sharjah Living Index

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Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Sharjah

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

$1,726

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phuket and in Sharjah

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,278 in Phuket versus $1,726 in Sharjah.

Phuket $1,278
Sharjah $1,726

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,216 in Phuket versus $2,594 in Sharjah.

Phuket $2,216
Sharjah $2,594

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,154 in Phuket versus $3,462 in Sharjah.

Phuket $3,154
Sharjah $3,462

Living in Phuket costs roughly 26% less than in Sharjah, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in utilities.

The two cities straddle the global median: Phuket is 6% below, Sharjah is 27% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.47 ฿151

$5.88 AED 21.58

-23.98%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$32.41 ฿1,093

$32.16 AED 118

0.78%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.81 ฿297

$8.13 AED 29.87

8.36%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$9.57 AED 35.13

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$9.29 AED 34.12

Cappuccino

$2.83 ฿95.4

$3.12 AED 11.46

-9.29%

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

$0.87 ฿29.41

$0.75 AED 2.75

16.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 ฿16.65

$0.31 AED 1.15

58.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.56 ฿86.3

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 ฿124

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 ฿55.9

$1.59 AED 5.84

4.40%

White Bread (500g)

$1.46 ฿49.31

$1.20 AED 4.40

21.67%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.50 ฿50.5

$1.82 AED 6.70

-17.58%

Eggs

$2.09 ฿70.5

$3.32 AED 12.20

-37.05%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.07 ฿643

$8.65 AED 31.77

120.46%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ฿111

$6.54 AED 24.01

-49.54%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.91 ฿368

$11.46 AED 42.09

-4.80%

Apples (1kg)

$2.93 ฿98.9

$2.26 AED 8.28

29.65%

Banana (1kg)

$1.69 ฿57.0

$1.75 AED 6.44

-3.43%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.25 ฿75.8

$1.32 AED 4.83

70.45%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.08 ฿70.0

$1.23 AED 4.50

69.11%

Potato (1kg)

$1.51 ฿51.0

$1.08 AED 3.96

39.81%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 ฿46.52

$1.10 AED 4.06

25.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.07 ฿35.96

$1.42 AED 5.20

-24.65%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 ฿17.51

$0.59 AED 2.18

-11.86%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$15.45 AED 56.8

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.50 AED 9.16

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.69 AED 9.88

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.20 ฿142

$6.57 AED 24.14

-36.07%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.79 ฿634

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 ฿61.5

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 ฿95.8

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.45 ฿48.98

$2.12 AED 7.79

-31.60%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,912

$27.55 AED 101

105.66%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.02 ฿102

$3.61 AED 13.26

-16.34%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.02 ฿34.33

$0.56 AED 2.07

82.14%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.69 ฿125

$12.03 AED 44.19

-69.33%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 ฿49.76

$0.97 AED 3.58

51.55%

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

$26.8K ฿903.4K

$44.1K AED 162.1K

-39.34%

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

$26.7K ฿900.5K

$21.0K AED 77.1K

27.13%

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

$96.4 ฿3,251

$212 AED 779

-54.59%

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

$11.26 ฿380

$48.90 AED 180

-76.97%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$16.85 ฿568

$98.0 AED 360

-82.80%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$67.2 ฿2,268

$54.3 AED 199

23.90%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

$22.44 AED 82.4

-52.18%

Cinema Ticket

$7.50 ฿253

$13.82 AED 50.8

-45.73%

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

$476 ฿16.1K

$340 AED 1,250

39.85%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K ฿380.0K

$8,356 AED 30.7K

34.80%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.4 ฿2,104

$58.8 AED 216

6.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.41 ฿958

$78.4 AED 288

-63.75%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$94.3 ฿3,181

$108 AED 396

-12.54%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.8 ฿2,895

$93.8 AED 344

-8.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$716 ฿24.2K

$816 AED 2,996

-12.23%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$491 ฿16.6K

$784 AED 2,879

-37.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,927 ฿65.0K

$1,831 AED 6,723

5.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,431 ฿48.3K

$1,578 AED 5,795

-9.34%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿140.9K

$7,442 AED 27.3K

-43.90%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.7K

$2,551 AED 9,368

19.35%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$502 ฿16.9K

$2,219 AED 8,149

-77.36%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.57

4.5

23.78%

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

Last update for Phuket: October 26, 2026

Last update for Sharjah: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phuket

$491 38.4%

Sharjah

$784 45.4% 59.7% $293

Groceries & Markets

Phuket

$266 20.8%

Sharjah

$193 11.2% 27.5% $73

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phuket

$124 9.7%

Sharjah

$359 20.8% 188% $235

Clothing & Footwear

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Sharjah

$152 8.8% 25.1% $31

Eating Out

Phuket

$122 9.5%

Sharjah

$113 6.6% 7.1% $8.6

Sport & Entertainment

Phuket

$82 6.4%

Sharjah

$82 4.8% 0.4% $0.3

Getting Around

Phuket

$71 5.5%

Sharjah

$42 2.5% 39.8% $28

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $716 in Phuket and $816 in Sharjah. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sharjah pays about 4.4 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $32 in Phuket vs $32 in Sharjah. Groceries flip the comparison at $266 vs $193, with Sharjah cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇭 Phuket

🇦🇪 Sharjah

🕒 Local time

07:06 7:06 AM

04:06 4:06 AM

3 h behind Phuket

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

79,308

1,400,000

💱 Currency

Thai Baht THB ฿

UAE Dirham AED د.إ

📈 Exchange rate

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 EUR

1 AED = 0.272 USD

1 AED = 0.244 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

AED, USD, EUR to THB – Thai Baht Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇭 Thai Baht (฿)

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 33.74 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.67 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

UAE Dirham exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 3.67 AED (1 AED = 0.272 USD). 1 EUR = 4.1 AED (1 AED = 0.244 EUR).

USD to THB in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Phuket Sharjah 4,940 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Phuket
Sharjah

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

Phuket vs Sharjah: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Phuket is about 26% cheaper overall, especially in utilities and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 77% lower in Phuket. 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: $716 in Phuket versus $816 in Sharjah. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $476 in Phuket versus $340 in Sharjah. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

A monthly transit pass in Sharjah runs roughly 51% less than in Phuket. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $1,278 in Phuket versus $1,726 in Sharjah, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phuket but tight or insufficient in Sharjah. The gap between the two cities makes Phuket 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, Phuket and Sharjah are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

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