DUBAI: UAE’s Dubai topped the list of most expensive Arab cities in the world with a cost-of-living index of 72.58, according to the 2018 Cost of Living index.
The 2018 Cost of Living Index, produced by crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, placed the Emirate as first in the region and 210th in the world.
A cost-of-living index is a theoretical price index that measures relative cost of living over time or regions. It measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions with other items as prices vary.
Qatar’s Doha (66.12) and Lebanon’s Beirut (65.03) take the second and third spots in the list for the Arab world, while sitting 288th and 299th globally.
Other entries include Jordan’s Amman (58.47), Oman’s Muscat (51.20) and Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah (51) — who respectively rank 328th, 365th and 367th globally.
At the bottom of the list sits Iraq’s Baghdad at a cost of living index of 46.05, with a global rank of 406th.
Israel’s Tel Aviv-Yafo, Jerusalem, Ramat Gan, and Haifa all sit on top of the list for Western Asia — with the former having an index of 90.36 and a global ranking of 34.
Iran’s Tehran, on the other hand, ranks 65th in Asia with an index of 37.8.
| Country | City | Arab Rank (20) | Global Rank (540) | Cost of Living Index |
| United Arab Emirates | Dubai | 1 | 210 | 72.58 |
| Qatar | Doha | 2 | 288 | 66.12 |
| Lebanon | Beirut | 3 | 299 | 65.03 |
| United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | 4 | 300 | 64.97 |
| United Arab Emirates | Sharjah | 5 | 324 | 59.38 |
| Bahrain | Manama | 6 | 326 | 59 |
| Jordan | Amman | 7 | 328 | 58.47 |
| Oman | Muscat | 8 | 365 | 51.20 |
| Saudi Arabia | Jeddah | 9 | 367 | 51 |
| Saudi Arabia | Khobar | 10 | 375 | 50.18 |
| Iraq | Irbil | 11 | 385 | 49.08 |
| Saudi Arabia | Dammam | 12 | 388 | 48.87 |
| Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | 13 | 391 | 48.21 |
| Iraq | Baghdad | 14 | 406 | 46.05 |
| Morocco | Rabat | 15 | 434 | 41.62 |
| Morocco | Casablanca | 16 | 458 | 38.81 |
| Algeria | Algiers | 17 | 473 | 37.13 |
| Tunisia | Tunis | 18 | 506 | 30.06 |
| Egypt | Cairo | 19 | 525 | 26.49 |
| Egypt | Alexandria | 20 | 538 | 23.78 |
