India
United Arab EmiratesCompare countries · India vs United Arab Emirates
India vs United Arab Emirates
IndiaSouthern Asia
United Arab EmiratesWestern Asia
The FCDO advises against all travel to parts of India and all but essential travel to other areas.India is cheaper (cost of living 18.9 vs 55.2).The United Arab Emirates is more peaceful (Global Peace Index 1.927 vs 2.409), scores higher on human development (0.940 vs 0.685) and has the higher income per person ($51,550 vs $2,760).It also has the longer life expectancy (83.1 vs 72.2 years).
The United Arab Emirates is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- India2.409Medium safety#126 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- United Arab Emirates1.927High safety#72 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- India2.8ModerateUNODC / World Bank · 2022
- United Arab Emirates0.7Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2022
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- India55.8ModerateNumbeo · 2026
- United Arab Emirates86Very highNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- IndiaAgainst all travel to parts, all but essential to other areasFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
- United Arab EmiratesNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-29
Income per person is higher in the United Arab Emirates
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- India$2,760LowWorld Bank · 2025
- United Arab Emirates$51,550Very highWorld Bank · 2024
- Cost of living indexexcluding rent, New York = 100
- India18.9Very affordableNumbeo · 2026
- United Arab Emirates55.2ModerateNumbeo · 2026
People live longer in the United Arab Emirates
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- India72.2Moderate#117 of 195World Bank · 2024
- United Arab Emirates83.1Very high#17 of 195World Bank · 2024
Broadband is faster in the United Arab Emirates
- Home internetmedian download speed
- India62 MbpsFast#96 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- United Arab Emirates398 MbpsVery fast#2 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
Human development: United Arab Emirates 0.940, India 0.685
IndiaUnited Arab Emirates
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Year by year:IndiaUnited Arab Emirates
Practical facts
- Capital
- New Delhi
- Abu Dhabi
- Population
- 1.46B (2025)
- 11.5M (2025)
- Languages
- English, Hindi, Tamil
- Arabic
- Currency
- Indian rupee (INR)
- United Arab Emirates dirham (AED)
- Area
- 2,973,190 km²
- 71,020 km²
- Plug type
- Type D/M
- Type G
- Drives on the
- left
- right
- Short visit
- Visa needed for UK, EU and US passports
- Visa-free for UK, EU and US passports
Short visits: passport-index-dataset, 2024, for UK, EU (German) and US passports. Population and area: World Bank. Languages, currency and driving side: restcountries.com. Plug types: worldstandards.eu.
India and United Arab Emirates, side by side
India leads on 16 United Arab Emirates on 431 level103 figures. 9 are held for only one country; the other shows a dash. Rows such as population, religion and tax levels have no better or worse end, so they show both values and no verdict. Level means under 2% apart.
Money and cost22
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $11,748Low
- $79,344High
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $2,702Low
- $50,274Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- $2,760Low
- $51,550Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 76.4High
- 126.4Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 18.9Very affordable
- 55.2Moderate
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 12.4Very low
- 48.2Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 4.3Very affordable
- 39.6Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 21.6Very low
- 44.4Moderate
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 15.6Very low
- 56.5Very high
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 11.0Affordable
- 7.4Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 0.387Very low
- 1.170High
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- 2.4%Moderate
- 1.3%Low
- Pension ReplacementOECD Pensions at a Glance · 2024
- 39.2%Low
- —
- Bank Account aheadWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 89%High
- 85.7%High
- Send Remittance aheadWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 0.5%Very low
- 3.1%Moderate
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 39%
- 0%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- 22%
- 0%
- VAT / GSTWikipedia · 2024
- 18%
- 5%
- Tax RevenueWorld Bank · 2022–2024
- 6.9%
- 0.6%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2024–2025
- $3,956 bn
- $552 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 1%
- 8.3%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 38.2High
- 44.2High
Work1
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 4.2%
- 2.2%
Equality6
- Income InequalityWorld Bank · 2022
- 25.5Very low
- —
- Income Share Bot. 20%World Bank · 2022
- 10.4Very high
- —
- Income Share Top 10%World Bank · 2022
- 22.1Very low
- —
- Poverty RateWorld Bank · 2022
- 82.1%Very high
- —
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.403Moderate
- 0.040Very low
- Inequality-Adj. HDI aheadUNDP HDR
- 0.475Low
- 0.866Very high
Safety9
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 2.409Medium safety
- 1.927High safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 55.8Moderate
- 86Very high
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2022
- 2.8Moderate
- 0.7Very low
- Assault Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2013–2022
- 25.8Moderate
- 2Very low
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2013–2023
- 2.8Very low
- 1.4Very low
- Sexual Violence Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2013–2016
- 9Low
- 4.9Very low
- Kidnapping Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2013–2022
- 5.1Very high
- 2.4High
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 14.6Moderate
- 5.9Very low
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 42.3Very high
- 6.5Moderate
Health16
- Life Expectancy aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 72.2Moderate
- 83.1Very high
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 23.3High
- 3.8Very low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 65.5Good
- 70.8Good
- UHC Service Coverage aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 69Low
- 84Very high
- Physicians / 1k aheadWorld Bank · 2020–2023
- 0.720Low
- 3High
- Hospital Beds aheadWorld Bank · 2021–2022
- 1.600Low
- 1.900Low
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023
- 43.9%High
- 9.7%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023
- $85
- $2,402
- Clean Water aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 95.7%Moderate
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 42.5Very high
- 34.0Very high
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 131.3High
- 46.7Low
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 8%Very low
- 31.6%High
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2015–2020
- 25.4%High
- 14.3%Low
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 8.7%Moderate
- 15.1%Very high
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 12.6High
- 1.7Very low
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 5.2
- 0.600
Education and getting online8
- PISA MathOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 431Moderate
- PISA ReadingOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 417Moderate
- PISA ScienceOECD PISA Results · 2022
- —
- 432Moderate
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2021–2022
- 4.1%
- 3.9%
- English ProficiencyLevelEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 484Low
- 487Low
- Internet aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 70%Low
- 100%Very high
- Home internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 62 MbpsFast
- 398 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet speed aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 129 MbpsHigh
- 681 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.13Moderate
- 0.54High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.28Moderate
- 1.15Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.61Low
- 0.83High
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.50High
- 1.13Very high
- Regulatory Quality aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- -0.17Moderate
- 1.17Very high
- Democracy aheadEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 7High
- 3.2Low
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 62Moderate
- 18Very low
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 32Difficult
- 30.9Difficult
Quality of life10
- Human Development aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.685Medium
- 0.940Very high
- Happiness aheadWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 4.54Very low
- 6.82Moderate
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 122.3Low
- 175.5High
- Climate index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 65.2Good
- 43.4Poor
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.397
- 1.980
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.732
- 1.096
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.298
- 0.710
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.015
- 1.071
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.121
- 0.149
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.124
- 0.228
People and planet20
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 1,463,865,525
- 11,513,149
- AreaWorld Bank
- 2,973,190 km²
- 71,020 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 33.9
- 35.7
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- 0.89%
- 4.68%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 35.7%
- 86%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- -495,753
- 158,634
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 0.3%
- 74%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 1.96
- 1.21
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 2.2%
- 14.3%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 15.2%
- 72.9%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 79.4%
- 11.8%
- BuddhistPew Research · 2020
- 0.7%
- 0.2%
- JewishPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 0%
- UnaffiliatedPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 0.3%
- Other religionsPew Research · 2020
- 2.5%
- 0.5%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 2.2Moderate
- 18.3Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 34.9%High
- 1%Very low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 24.5%
- 4.5%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.485High
- 0.383Low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.394Moderate
- 0.587Very high
Other3
- LiteracyWorld Bank · 2024
- 78.2%
- 98.8%
- Mobile MoneyWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 23.1%
- 13.3%
- Receive RemittanceWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 1.8%
- —
Quick answers
Is India cheaper than United Arab Emirates?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts India at 18.9 and United Arab Emirates at 55.2. India is about 66% cheaper overall.
Is India or United Arab Emirates safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), India scores 2.41 and United Arab Emirates scores 1.93. United Arab Emirates ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, India or United Arab Emirates?
On the UN Human Development Index, India scores 0.685 and United Arab Emirates scores 0.940. United Arab Emirates scores higher on this composite of income, health and education. Single indexes hide trade-offs; the full comparison above shows where each country wins.
What is life like in India compared to United Arab Emirates?
GNI per capita runs $2,760 in India against $51,550 in United Arab Emirates; people live 72.2 years on average against 83.1; Numbeo users rate healthcare 66 against 71. Those are national averages and they hide the thing you actually feel: capital-city costs run well ahead of the national figure in most countries, and rural provision of healthcare and internet often lags the number shown here. The table below splits it indicator by indicator.