How much does it really cost every month to live in Dubai? We’ve been getting a number of queries on this subject in recent times, and we decided that now is the time to address all of them in an informative blog post. However, do keep in mind that the numbers we have worked for are for a small family, and they may change according to the personal preferences that one may have. Living in Dubai for Expats can vary greatly depending on lifestyle, but this will serve as a great starting point in understanding the true cost of living in Dubai for expats.
Housing Costs
It’s no secret that Dubai is an increasingly popular destination for expats, and because of this, Dubai is facing a rental increase, meaning rents are much higher than they used to be. However, depending on your occupation and whether your employer covers the rental cost, housing may not eat into your budget too much.
If you were to source a two-bedroom apartment of your own, it will cost you somewhere in the region of 85,000 dirhams in Dubai. Rent is actually paid using checks—typically one, two, or four checks—which means that your annual rent is divided by the number of checks that you agree with your landlord. So for example, if you agreed to four checks, you would obviously make four payments of 21,250 dirhams over the course of the year. But for the sake of this blog, we’ll split the annual rental cost monthly, which would give us a monthly rent of 7,083 dirhams.
Utilities
Moving on to household bills, utilities in Dubai are run through one central app called Dubai Now, so you can pay for all of your utilities and your internet all through this app. And obviously, in typical Dubai fashion, it’s all very slick, very easy, and convenient. There is actually only one provider of water and electricity here, which is called DEWA. It stands for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, so they have a monopoly on the pricing. However, for a two-bedroom apartment, a monthly DEWA bill on average is around 350 to 400 dirhams, and this is paid per month. If you live in “chiller accommodation” there won’t be a separate bill for AC. Instead, you would pay for the electricity that is actually used to run the AC unit, so you can expect your DEWA bill to be slightly cheaper in the cooler months.
However, it is worth noting that when you are renting a property in Dubai, included in your DEWA bill will be something called municipality fees. These fees are 5% of your annual rental cost, so based on a monthly rent of 85,000 dirhams, your municipality fees work out to be 355 dirhams per month. If your employer provides accommodation, this means that they also cover the municipality fees, so you are only liable for the usage cost of electricity and water.
The gas bill is paid quarterly, and will work out to be roughly 99 dirhams per month. If you don’t cook as much or you plan to eat out a little bit more, you can expect your gas bill to be lower. Expect to pay 285 dirhams per month for the internet, and there usually aren’t any setup costs involved. So this brings our grand total for household bills currently to 1,139 dirhams.
Groceries
Groceries will probably be the biggest monthly expense for a small family at around 4,000 dirhams per month. It is worth noting that new expats will be in a period of transition in terms of switching over brands to more local ones, and obviously, as a lot of food here is imported, they may pay a slight premium for the brands that they are familiar with. This adds to the average cost of living in Dubai. Also, as part of the grocery budget, a monthly subscription to Wiswell, which is 150 dirhams would be ideal. Wiswell is a water filter and dispensing system, so instead of buying bottled water, you fill up your Wiswell tank, and it filters and cleans the water. It just generates boiling, cold, and room temperature water for you.
Education
Let’s assume that your toddler needs to be sent to Nursery five days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This would come up to approximately 177,000 dirhams per year. Obviously, this cost varies heavily based on the rating, ranking, and type of school, as well as the age of your child. But just to give you an idea, a primary school place at a premium school is in the region of 40,000 to 60,000 dirhams per year, and a secondary school place can cost between 70,000 to 100,000 dirhams per year per child. And obviously, the older they get, the fees increase. You will have to pay a further 580 dirhams per month for what they call aftercare here, and that is from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and around 350 dirhams for one extracurricular activity, such as gymnastics. Again, it is also worth noting that these fees are paid annually and are due upfront.
Car payments and running costs
While the cost of petrol here in Dubai is ridiculously cheap, the cost of cars, and in particular car rentals, is expensive. A monthly car payment would be around 2,700 dirhams, and just to give you an idea of how much this would cost as a rental, the cheapest car rental for a similar SUV in terms of size is around 3,900 dirhams. Also budget 750 dirhams a month for petrol and Salik, which are toll fees and are only charged for the most part when you drive on the main road here in Dubai, which is Sheikh Zayed Road. Your weekly spend on petrol, on average, would be between 120 and 150 dirhams if you drive every day to work, and are out and about on weekends. Salik fees, however, vary depending on where you go on the weekend. So all in all, a budget of around 4,500 dirhams a month for car payments and running costs would be ideal.
The Total
Housing: 7,083 dirhams
Household bills: 1,139 dirhams
Groceries: 4,000 dirhams
School fees: 580 dirhams
Car payments and running costs: 4,500 dirhams
This brings the average cost of living in Dubai for a small family of three to approximately 17,302 dirhams per month. So we hope this gives you a better idea of the true cost of living in Dubai for expats. If you have any questions or anything you’d like to know, reach out to us at SetHub—we can provide a more detailed breakdown as per your requirements!
