Cost Of Living Expenses In Dubai

By Author: Kellie Whitehead
Total Articles: 3
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Dubai is a rich Middle Eastern country due to the high revenues generated from petroleum and natural gas industries. The economy is estimated to be worth over 40 billion Euro due to tourism business and the Jebel Ali free zone authority or JAFZA.

Around 800 immigrants enter the country every day to seek greener pastures and to avail of the privileges that Dubai offers its citizens. Oil and natural gas may be abundant in the country but it only covers 3% of total economy.

Employment: It has been reported that Dubai employment rate is the highest in the world. At 97.4%, the workforce is at an all-time high. One-third of the population earns around 6,000 Euro every month. 20% of the population earns less than 2,000 Euro every month while only 5% earns over 120,000 Euro every month. Health insurance is provided to every worker by the government in addition to other benefits like gas consumption, home maintenance and children's education.

Some of the careers in demand at the present are engineering, mining, oiling, ...
... health care, construction jobsand architecture. Household helpers continue to stabilize in their numbers. Working contracts are maintained by employers for at least two years. There are several hotel jobsand sales jobopenings provided for foreigners including other benefits like travelling allowance and transportation.

Housing: It is quite difficult to independently own land in Dubai. Expatriates need to invest almost one million Euro in order to legally own decent property with full documentation. The government is very stringent when it comes to land ownership and it can take a very long time before ownership is finalized. Most people will prefer apartment rentals instead since these are less expensive and easier to maintain.

Prices will inflate or deflate depending on the quality and condition of the place. A single bedroom apartment will have a rental fee of around 800 Euro every month. Bigger villas cost around 2,500 Euro every month. If the place is furnished, tenants will have to add another 25% to the total.

Food & Drinks: An individual expatriate will spend around 500 Euro on food and other grocery items every month. Costs of food products are especially high especially in downtown areas. Water is generally expensive all across the country. Local wine and other beverages are manufactured or imported from nearby Middle Eastern countries. As for meat products, Dubai exports camel and lamb meat. Agriculture and brewery are not the main strengths of the nation although there are a few of these presently doing business.

Dubai relies mostly on imported food and drinks, which explains why they are also more expensive. Any food item found in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia is usually found in most establishments downtown.

Basic Services: Utilities, such as electricity, water and gas, are subsidized to some extent by the region's governments, which own the services (except for bottled gas supplies) in order to provide inexpensive electricity and water, mainly for the benefit of the local population. Utilities are therefore cheaper than in most European countries. However, at the height of summer, air-conditioning costs will escalate, rather as the cost of heating increases in winter in colder climates. Newcomers sometimes make the expensive mistake of keeping their air-conditioning on even when they're out, but this is unnecessary, as air-conditioning systems reduce the temperature in your accommodation quickly when activated on your return home.

The general lack of taxation has a significant impact on the cost of certain items, e.g. cars. On the other hand, the cost of accommodation is high, as is that of certain food items, particularly imported foods. If you buy internationally recognized branded foods and household goods, you might pay higher prices than in your home country, but there are usually plenty of cheaper locally and regionally produced alternatives that are of excellent quality. Clothing can also be expensive if you favour designer labels - this isn't peculiar to Dubai - although there's little need for winter clothing.

But this should be mentioned here that cost of living will obviously depend on your lifestyle. When you're negotiating a work contract, it's usual for your prospective employer to produce detailed cost of living figures for his country, which are useful in helping you to decide whether the proposed job is financially attractive or not.

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