Cost of living in Qatar — 2015

Hi there,

I live in Al Rayyan near the Aspire Zone (close to where I work).

I live in shared accommodation in a 4 bedroom (+1 maids room, which is very large in itself!) and 4 bathroom villa (2 bedrooms with ensuite, 3 without). The compound has a pool with covered outside area, a decent enough gym, tennis court, squash court, multi-games area (e.g. table tennis and pool/billiards table). We also have an 18 hole mini golf course which I haven't seen in a compound before! I think the contract for this particular villa is 17,000-19,000 QR. Overall, I think out of all expenses in Qatar.. that accommodation is definitely the most costly of all of your expenses.

I know of other Villa's that are cheaper, particularly stand alone ones. Cheaper Villas might also not have some of the shared facilities that we have.. or they just have good land lords! I have only been here a few months, and from what I can tell the accommodation prices are continually rising (even though the Qatari government says they shouldn't be!)

No such thing as public transport here. The metro has not been built yet (and the traffic due to construction is horrible at times). The taxis are cheap though, but most expats have their own drivers (which you pay more for, but you can call them to organize times/places for pickup).

In terms of food shopping for one (e.g. at Lulu's or Carrefore), I can get away with a full weeks food shop (for a single guy) for about 250 QR. This is very comparable to a weeks shopping back home in Melbourne, Australia. Most is good quality, and you pay extra for some of the nicer fresher food, and also products from back home in Australia (like Vegemite!).
Eating out is always good quality food, and some can be very cheap, while others in the Pearl and Westbay areas can be way way way expensive - especially restaurants that have a liquor license!

Most people I know have pre-paid phones with either Vodafone or Ooredoo. You can easily get away with 100-200 QR per month, however once you start chewing in to your internet usage your credit runs out quickly. Your best bet is to load your pre-paid with the 200 QR and set up a weekly internet package for only 20 QR (therefore, you have 120 QR worth of calls per month, and 80 QR for internet). Easy to set up.

One thing I will add is the price of alcohol. First of all, you need a letter from your employer to take to the Qatar Distribution Company in order to get your liquor license. No letter = no license. QDC is the only place you can buy alcohol (and pork products) for your home. The prices aren't too inflated compare to back in Australia, and there is a good selection here of beer, wine, and spirits.
Going out on the other hand is a different story! The cheapest place to drink is the Doha Rugby club (25 QR for a beer), but if you don't know a member, a membership will cost you 600 QR. Other places to go out are in Westbay (e.g. Waham) or Kempinski, or Sheraton hotel (Irish Bar), or Radisson Blue.. these nights can cost you 40-50 QR for a beer. So a 'normal' night out back home is a very big night here in Doha (in terms of money spent). If you are not careful a night out can cost upwards of 800-1000 QR (talking from experience!).

In Doha
-Accommodation one bedroom :
no furniture flat is 4000 to 5000
fully furnished flat 6000 to 8000 depending on the furniture and place
- public transportation is not good but taxi can be from 20 to 40
- food is up to you ... from 1000 to 2000 per month
- health insurance: you can get a public health insurance which is realllllllly good for 100 QR per year ( I know ... very cheap)
- education ... I don't know because I am single guy but I heard for primary school it can be 7000 in a good school
- oilpetrol for 1 QR/liter for super petrol and 00.8 QR/liter for normal petrol (yes it is that cheap)
-for normal restaurant it will be from 30 to 50 QR per one meal
-price for ticket cinema is 35 and for 3D IMAX is 55 QR
-car price: you can easily check it online through google for new and used cars

My best regards mates !!!

@ Bradna and hilal3010 >

Thank you a lot for this sharing of information, it is very much appreciated ! 

Have a nice day

Priscilla

Thanks mate 😊 it's like 👍 you have been in Qatar for over a year

Good info, more details of likely expenses for a fresher will be appreciated

What kind of fresh expenses you are talking about

First of all, the cost of living is bloody expensive especially if you want to live the good life i.e. live in a good location which is close to work, where you can walk around with your family and have peace and quiet at night. It is still a very safe and decent place to live so I guess you have to pay the price. Anyways I will try answer the questions one by one:


> accommodation prices
Accommodation seriously varies. A 1 bed apartment in the Pearl starts from 10,000 QAR in Qanat Quartier to 12,000 in Viva Bahriya to 14,000 in Porto Arabia. For reference, if you want to live in the Pearl, get a two bed and then share the other bedroom to split down the rent in the middle. That's the only way you can afford living here unless you are being paid exorbitant amount of money. West Bay is different story. There are mostly 2 beds available there and the best way to go about it is to go to individual towers yourself. Don't bother with real estate agents with WestBay. A 2 bed apartment can go from 13,000 to 22,000 in Westbay and it depends on which tower you like. You can choose an older building like Umm Bab next to Ezdan Hotel or go from Kempinski which is beautiful but super expensive. I am not sure about other places like Al Sadd and Al Rayyan because I havent stayed there. I have heard that the rent is more reasonable there like 9000 for a 2 bed apartment which is still around 2500 US$ per month for a 2 bed apartment.

> public transportation fares (tube, bus etc.)
There is no public transport. There are a few buses running around. I havent ever used them so I am not sure what the fare is. There is a free West Bay bus which takes you around 10-15 bus stops in West Bay only which is a decent way to get about in West Bay but that is it. Your best bet is to take one of the private taxis and if you like a driver, get his card and call him whenever you need him. The maximum fare I have paid is 60 QAR one way for a 40 minute ride and 1 hour wait is 50 QAR. Depending on how well you know the guy, you can usually get good discount on a monthly package.

> food prices (your monthly budget)
Grocery is around 300 QAR per week for vegetables, oil, sugar, tea, milk, cheese, butter, bread etc. You can go to Carrefore around the city and do your grocery easily with no hiccups. The usual supply problems are there i.e. if you find something good, you usually cant find it again.

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance)
The first thing you should do if you dont have a medical insurance by your company is get a Hamad Health Card. It is very cheap and gives you access to all government hospitals. The private hospitals are OK but as expected not very customer centric. I had to wait for 4 hours in an EMERGENCY ward to get checked. After 5 hours I decided that if I havent died till now I am probably not dying anyways.

> education prices (if you need to pay)
No idea about about schooling but from people who are sending their kids to school, I have heard that good schools are notoriously difficult to get into and are very expensive.

> energy prices (oil, electricity)
Two things you dont have to worry about is petrol (around 1 QAR per liter) and electricity which is practically free. I pay around 120 QAR for a month of proper usage.

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone)
Internet, TV, Telephone and Mobile Phones are bloody nightmare to manage. Mobile phone is expensive if you dont manage it properly. The best thing to do is to get a post paid package from Ooredoo which gives you 800 minutes of international calls and 1 GB data for around QAR 250 per month and practically you dont have to worry about calling home or using the internet on your phone. For reference, dont streem youtube on 4G. The phone assumes that you have a super fast connection and streams 720P video which can burn 1 GB in practically 1 hour. TV/Phone/Internet would cost around 400-600 per month depending on what you install. You need an electricity number to get tv installed. I dont know why but you do. 

> price for a good menu in a traditional restaurant
A good meal can cost upto QAR 100 per person in any reasonable restaurant excluding alcohol. I think someone already gave enough data on the same.

> price for a coffee or a drink
Coffee at Costa Coffee, Starbucks, etc would cost around QAR 50 which include coffee + something to eat with it.

> price for cinema tickets
Depending on the cinema the tickets can range from 40 QAR for a normal movie to 75 QAR for IMAX 3D. You can add the same for 1 pop corn + coke.

Very Impressive , Umair   

Hi expat's ,

Please find below my answers based on personal budget (Bachelor) :
I'm having A Salary of Qar 12,000 monthly and half of it was going to my personal expenses in Doha ( for me, i can consider it as a semi-decent cost of living)

> accommodation prices  : Qar 1,000 on sharing room (2 persons) at Al Sadd , bit  lucky to have the big room with Balcony overlooking the Al Sadd Street & La Cigale . on a sharing 2 person in a room.

> public transportation fares (tube, bus etc.) Qar 1,200 for rent a car including fuel (don't forget the surprise Traffic fine)

> food prices (your monthly budget) : Qar 1,000 ( Home Food )

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance) : Multi Vitamins = Qar 150

> education prices (if you need to pay) : n/a

> energy prices (oil, electricity) : included in home rent & transpo.

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone)  Qar 400 (for osn, voda bills, E/W & internet)

> price for a good menu in a traditional restaurant  ; Qar 500

> price for a coffee or a drink ; Qar 200

> price for cinema tickets ; Qar 200

Total Amount : QAR 4,650 to QAR 5,000

We are a family of four living in Qatar, both my husband and I are degree qualified Engineers working for large international engineering firms. 

> accommodation prices
We live in a nice compound in Al Aizizya with full facilities, 4 bedrooms plus a maids room, covered parking and private gardener. Rent QAR18,000/month + Gardener 200/month + weekly cleaner 400/month

> food prices (your monthly budget)
Groceries run us about QAR 3500 - 5000 per month. On the rare occasion we go out to dinner... About QAR 1300-2000 for dinner with two at one of the hotels where you can enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner.

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance)
I personally maintain international health insurance because I travel frequently for work and holiday which runs me about USD 200 per month.

> education prices (if you need to pay)
My husband's company covers our children's school fees up to QAR 45,000 per year, right now it covers our costs but if we stay another two years we will begin to pay some out of pocket.

> energy prices (oil, electricity)
Electricity&water runs us about 200 - 500 per month.

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone)
Fiber internet QAR 550/month, OSN USD 80 per month, company mobile phones

> price for a good menu in a traditional restaurant
Dinner for 4 --- QAR 550ish

> price for a coffee or a drink
Coffee - 20 QAR

> price for cinema tickets
Not sure, as far as I know they still have not upgraded the fire system in the movie theaters here, so we don't go.

In short, living in Qatar is about 200 to 300% more expensive than living in southern USA.

Apartment rent for 1 bedroom in decent area of Doha (like West Bay or Pearl) is nearly 4 times what I would pay in SE USA. (no sharing basis). Apt rent I paid in West Bay was in range of 11000 to 12000 per month

Going for beer or wine in Qatar costs on the average 40 to 50 rials per glass

Restaurant prices in a decent Doha restaurant are 2 times the price in SE USA.

Price for a cup of tea or coffee in Doha is almost same as Starbucks in USA

Entertainment (movie ticket) is almost the same.

Transportation costs (car rental) on monthly basis  is almost the same as SE USA. 

My advice to other expats, you should negotiate a good enough salary to live comfortably by yourself  in a good area of Doha.  You will need to make around 20,000 QAR monthly to afford 1 bdrm apartment plus all expenses , may be 2000 QAR less if you rent a studio. . .

Sc

Hi All,

I will be on 16,800 Qtr per month, plus another 2000 Qtr for transport and utilities. They will pay 21000Qtr towards schooling and provide accommodation. We are a family of 4 - is this a sufficient enough budget to live comfortably?

Any advice will be most appreciated.

@Zulfij > please read all the posts on this thread. This will help you to have an idea about the cost of living in Qatar. Thank you

Christine    otherwise this post is 

Hi Hilal, regarding a good school you missed a 0.
Any good school you pay roughly QR 70.000,- ona yearly basis. English schools  around 55.000 to 65.000. Where as the American School ( supposed to be the best in the Gulf region) 75.000 a year.
There are cheaper schools( Indian, Pakistan, Philipino) schools. I do not know prices and curriculum.

Thanks for adding that info about education

Zulfie
If they will provide accommodation then that is a big help but for the two children I guess you will need to put 23000 for each per year
as for the food .... that is a personal choice (nnormaly for 4 it would be 3000 to 4000 as a good budget)
You should buy your own car because that would be more effective if you will stay for a long time 5 years or so (yyou can check the car prices online)
I would personally say it is enough if you will live the budget life.
check on google (ccost of living in Qatar)

Thanks for the response - is it better to buy or lease a car?