Relocation
Cost of living in Dubai in 2026: rents from 85,000 registered leases, DEWA bills and the 5% housing fee
Rent is most of the cost of living in Dubai, and it is the one cost the government records contract by contract. In September 2026 Dubai Land Department registered 85,277 residential leases; a new twelve-month flat lease had a median of AED 72,000 a year, a renewal AED 60,880. By area, a new flat ran from AED 40,000 in International City to AED 160,000 in Downtown. On top of rent come a municipal housing fee of 5% of the annual rent, charged on the DEWA bill, and DEWA's own electricity and water tariffs. Dubai inflation was 5.54% in August 2026. No official household budget for Dubai has been published since the 2024 survey was completed.
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Contents
- What official data exists on the cost of living in Dubai
- Rent in Dubai 2026: a median of AED 72,000 a year for a new flat lease
- Dubai rent by flat size: what the register records instead of bedrooms
- Dubai rent by area: twenty areas with the most new leases
- Villa rent in Dubai by number of bedrooms
- Dubai utility bills: DEWA tariffs and the 5% housing fee
- Dubai inflation in 2026: 5.54% in August
- What this page does not price
- Frequently asked questions
- Where this sits in the rest of the site
- If you are planning a move to Dubai
- Sources: where each figure comes from
Most pages on the cost of living in Dubai are built from crowdsourced price lists. This one is built from the government's own records: the leases registered with Dubai Land Department in September 2026, the electricity and water tariffs of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the housing fee set out on the UAE government portal, and the consumer price index of the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment. Where no official figure exists, the page says so instead of filling the gap.
The rent figures come from the Rents data on Dubai Land Department's open data portal: every lease registered from 1 to 29 September 2026, 105,145 contracts in all, of which 85,277 were residential. We kept leases for a single unit, for twelve months, with a recorded size, and computed medians ourselves. The calculation and its filters are recorded in our UAE verification file.
What official data exists on the cost of living in Dubai
Three things are published, and one is missing:
- Rents: every lease is registered with Dubai Land Department through Ejari, and the registrations are open data. This is the strongest series of any country on this site.
- Utilities: DEWA publishes its tariff, and the housing fee is set by Dubai Municipality.
- Prices: the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment publishes a monthly consumer price index.
- Missing: a household budget. Dubai's Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2024 completed its fieldwork, with about 5,000 households, but no results had been published by 26 October 2026. Any "average monthly expenses in Dubai" figure you read is therefore not an official one.
Rent in Dubai 2026: a median of AED 72,000 a year for a new flat lease
Of the twelve-month flat leases registered in September 2026, the new ones and the renewals split almost evenly:
| Lease | Contracts | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lease | 30,556 | AED 50,443 | AED 72,000 | AED 110,000 | 74 m² |
| Renewal | 29,408 | AED 46,000 | AED 60,880 | AED 85,000 | 84 m² |
A newcomer signs a new lease, so the first row is the one that matters for a move: AED 72,000 a year, or AED 6,000 a month, for a flat of about 74 m². One new lease in ten was below AED 40,000 a year and one in ten above AED 160,000.
Renewals are cheaper on a larger flat because a rent increase on renewal is tied to the average rent for the area. The UAE government portal states that in Dubai "rental increases in the emirate can be applied when compared with the average rent in the area", under Law 43 of 2013, and points to the official rent increase calculator. Moving costs more than staying.
Dubai rent by flat size: what the register records instead of bedrooms
The register records a flat's size in square metres, not its number of bedrooms. New leases by size:
| Flat size | Contracts | Median rent a year | Median a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 45 m² | 5,826 | AED 43,000 | AED 3,583 |
| 45 to 75 m² | 9,941 | AED 65,000 | AED 5,417 |
| 75 to 110 m² | 8,194 | AED 85,000 | AED 7,083 |
| 110 to 160 m² | 4,814 | AED 122,000 | AED 10,167 |
| Over 160 m² | 1,781 | AED 175,000 | AED 14,583 |
As a rough guide, a studio usually falls in the first band, a one-bedroom flat in the second and a two-bedroom flat in the second or third; the register itself does not say so. Leases recorded as studios had a median of AED 39,000 on 40 m².
Dubai rent by area: twenty areas with the most new leases
Dubai Land Department uses its own area names, which are not the names on the listings. The table gives the register's name and the largest projects registered in each, so the area can be recognised:
| Register area | Largest projects in the register | New flat leases | Median rent a year | Median size | Per m² a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Khairan First | Creek Beach (Dubai Creek Harbour) | 2,837 | AED 110,000 | 93 m² | AED 1,273 |
| Al Barsha South Fourth | Binghatti Apex, Bloom Towers (Jumeirah Village Circle) | 2,770 | AED 64,000 | 68 m² | AED 986 |
| Burj Khalifa | The Address Dubai Opera, The Mansion (Downtown Dubai) | 2,375 | AED 160,000 | 105 m² | AED 1,619 |
| Business Bay | Peninsula Four, Peninsula Two | 2,155 | AED 84,765 | 70 m² | AED 1,243 |
| Marsa Dubai | Bay Central, Marina Vista (Dubai Marina) | 1,601 | AED 110,000 | 94 m² | AED 1,167 |
| Al Merkadh | Sobha Hartland — The Crest, Crest Grande | 1,235 | AED 70,000 | 51 m² | AED 1,318 |
| Me'Aisem First | Jannat, Midtown — Afnan | 1,027 | AED 65,000 | 67 m² | AED 1,000 |
| Jabal Ali First | The Nook, Azizi Samia Residence | 1,003 | AED 63,000 | 76 m² | AED 930 |
| Al Barshaa South Third | Skyz by Danube, Miraclz Tower | 951 | AED 55,000 | 59 m² | AED 1,000 |
| Al Warsan First | Lawnz by Danube, International City | 828 | AED 40,000 | 59 m² | AED 667 |
| Al Thanyah Fifth | New Dubai Gate 1, Gold Crest Views 2 (Jumeirah Lake Towers) | 688 | AED 80,000 | 79 m² | AED 1,102 |
| Al Hebiah Fourth | Elite Sports Residence (Dubai Sports City) | 600 | AED 50,000 | 61 m² | AED 861 |
| Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid | Park Ridge, Parkside Views (Dubai Hills) | 559 | AED 105,000 | 71 m² | AED 1,391 |
| Al Jadaf | Farhad Azizi Residence, Fawad Azizi Residence | 518 | AED 70,000 | 77 m² | AED 965 |
| Nadd Hessa | Binghatti Stars, Silicon Gate 1 (Dubai Silicon Oasis) | 506 | AED 54,000 | 72 m² | AED 817 |
| Al Mararr | Deira | 427 | AED 45,000 | 70 m² | AED 643 |
| Al Murqabat | Deira | 397 | AED 47,000 | 60 m² | AED 717 |
| Hor Al Anz | Deira | 384 | AED 35,000 | 70 m² | AED 500 |
| Warsan Fourth | Sports View Residence, Vancouver | 381 | AED 51,000 | 68 m² | AED 795 |
| Al Barsha First | Bassmat Al Hana | 364 | AED 75,000 | 86 m² | AED 863 |
The rent per square metre is the fairer comparison, because the typical flat differs in size from area to area: Downtown costs more than three times as much per square metre as Hor Al Anz in Deira.
Villa rent in Dubai by number of bedrooms
For villas the register does record bedrooms. New twelve-month villa leases in September 2026:
| Bedrooms | Contracts | Median rent a year |
|---|---|---|
| Three | 1,126 | AED 150,000 |
| Four | 824 | AED 220,000 |
| Five | 234 | AED 360,000 |
All new villa leases together had a median of AED 180,000 a year. A two-bedroom villa lease, with 164 contracts, had a median of AED 145,000.
Dubai utility bills: DEWA tariffs and the 5% housing fee
DEWA's residential tariff, as published for October 2026:
| Band | Tariff | |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 0 to 2,000 kWh a month | AED 0.23 per kWh |
| 2,001 to 4,000 kWh | AED 0.28 | |
| 4,001 to 6,000 kWh | AED 0.32 | |
| Above 6,000 kWh | AED 0.38 | |
| Water | 0 to 27 m³ a month | AED 7.70 per m³ |
| 27 to 54 m³ | AED 8.80 | |
| Above 54 m³ | AED 10.12 |
On top come a fuel surcharge of AED 0.06 per kWh and AED 1.10 per m³ for October 2026, meter service charges, and 5% VAT.
Then the housing fee. The UAE government portal: "Tenants must pay housing fees to Dubai Municipality, which is calculated at the rate of 5 per cent of the yearly rental charges", added to the monthly DEWA bill. On the median new flat lease of AED 72,000, that is AED 300 a month, whatever electricity you use.
A worked example, with consumption we chose for illustration: a flat using 1,000 kWh and 10 m³ in a month pays about AED 407 to DEWA including the surcharge, meter charges and VAT, plus the AED 300 housing fee. A summer month at 2,500 kWh and 20 m³ comes to about AED 983 before the housing fee. Buildings on district cooling bill air conditioning separately through the cooling provider, which DEWA's tariff does not cover.
Dubai inflation in 2026: 5.54% in August
The Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment's release of 14 September 2026 put consumer prices 5.54% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, and 0.31% higher than in July. The largest increases were in transport, up 12.74%, food and beverages, up 7.39%, and housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel, up 6.70%. Press reports of the September release give 5.03%, which we have not yet read at source.
What this page does not price
Groceries, schools, health insurance, cars and fuel. There is no official basket for groceries; school fees are set school by school; health insurance depends on the employer or sponsor; and fuel prices are reset every month. We would rather leave a line empty than fill it from a crowdsourced list.
Frequently asked questions
How much is rent in Dubai in 2026?
In September 2026 a new twelve-month flat lease registered with Dubai Land Department had a median of AED 72,000 a year, about AED 6,000 a month, for a median size of 74 m². Renewals had a median of AED 60,880.
What is the cheapest area to rent in Dubai?
Among the twenty areas with the most new flat leases in September 2026, the lowest medians were Hor Al Anz in Deira at AED 35,000 a year and Al Warsan First, which includes International City, at AED 40,000.
How much is DEWA per month?
It depends on use. At DEWA's October 2026 tariff, 1,000 kWh and 10 m³ of water cost about AED 407 including the fuel surcharge, meter charges and VAT. The 5% housing fee is added on top.
What is the Dubai housing fee?
5% of the annual rent, paid by the tenant to Dubai Municipality through the monthly DEWA bill.
What is the average cost of living in Dubai per month?
There is no official figure. Dubai's 2024 household expenditure survey has completed its fieldwork but has not published results, so any average monthly figure comes from unofficial sources.
Is Dubai getting more expensive?
Consumer prices in Dubai were 5.54% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, with housing up 6.70% and transport up 12.74%.
Where this sits in the rest of the site
The residence routes are in the UAE guide, remote work in the Dubai remote work visa, retirement in retiring in Dubai, and the British move in moving to Dubai from the UK. Why Dubai cannot be put in the same table as the European countries' household surveys is in the income piece. Every figure here is traced on the sources page.
If you are planning a move to Dubai
We do not give legal or tax advice. What we do is put a person who knows what they are asking in front of a licensed adviser in Dubai. The questions that decide a move are rarely the rent. They are which visa you will hold, whether you will actually stop being tax resident at home, and whether to rent or buy. Send them through the enquiry form. We take no part in the fee.
Sources: where each figure comes from
- Rents: Dubai Land Department, open data, Rents, leases registered 1 to 29 September 2026, downloaded 26 October 2026; our medians of single-unit twelve-month leases, filters recorded in our UAE verification file.
- Rent increases: UAE government portal, "Leasing a property in the UAE", citing Law 43 of 2013.
- Utilities: DEWA, residential slab tariff with the October 2026 fuel surcharge, read 26 October 2026; the housing fee: UAE government portal, same page.
- Inflation: Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment, consumer price index release of 14 September 2026.
- The household survey: Digital Dubai, announcement of the completion of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2024.
- Not published here: groceries, school fees, health insurance, fuel, district cooling charges, and any total monthly budget.
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