The cost of living in Dubai is rising rapidly compared with that in other countries, an international cost of living survey revealed yesterday.
According to the latest global study by UBS, Dubai is now the 22nd most expensive city in the world - five places higher on UBS's rankings than it was last year - and still the most expensive city in the Middle East.
However, prices in the city remain comparatively lower than they were in UBS's 2009 study, when the city came 19th in the world.
Researchers at the Swiss bank ranked the 72 most expensive cities in the world by comparing the cost in each of a basket of goods and services in May. It included food, groceries, hygiene and healthcare products, household devices and transport.
It found prices in Dubai were now 78.1 per cent of those in New York, more expensive than cities such as Amsterdam, Doha, Miami, Hong Kong and Moscow. The Norwegian capital Oslo and the Swiss city Zurich came top of the list, while the Indian cities New Delhi and Mumbai came bottom. Doha was ranked 36th.
The average monthly cost of a basket of food in Dubai stood at Dh1,781 (US$484), according to the study, 12.2 per cent less than the same basket would cost in New York where it fetched Dh2,027. In London it cost only Dh1,601 while in expensive Zurich it cost Dh2,586 and in Delhi just Dh764.
When the cost of renting a home was included in the findings, Dubai jumped to joint 12th most expensive city in the world alongside Frankfurt, overtaking both Rome and Chicago - despite the fact that apartment rents in the Emirates city are now an estimated 30 per cent lower than in 2009. Average monthly rents in the city stood at Dh8,998 while house prices were about Dh14,508 per square metre.
As prices climbed, demands for wage increases also rose.
UBS found the average hourly wage in Dubai stood at Dh59.50, making the city the 33rd highest payer in the world in terms of gross earnings with wage levels 49.6 per cent of the New York average. However, when tax was taken into consideration, this jumped to 64.2 per cent of the average New Yorker's take-home pay.
When both prices and wages were taken into consideration, the study found Dubai residents had the 27th highest purchasing power in the world, placing the city ahead of Barcelona and Brussels but well behind high paying cities such as Zurich and Sydney.
The study also found on average employees in Dubai would have to work for 46.5 hours to be able to afford an iPhone 4S and 12 minutes to buy a Big Mac. By contrast, in Zurich, the highest-paying city, workers had to put in just 22 hours to buy an iPhone and 13 minutes to buy a Big Mac, while in Delhi the average employee would have to work for 369.5 hours to buy an iPhone and more than an hour to buy a Big Mac.
On average, workers in Dubai clocked up 2,096 working hours a year - 538 more than Parisians but 169 fewer than workers in Delhi.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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Getting%20there
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
The%20specs
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Sour%20Grapes
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