Dubai: Despite an ease in house rents due to slowdown in the real estate market, the total cost of living in Dubai is continuously surging, putting more pressure on UAE expatriates’ ability to manage their household budgets, new data have pointed out.
A huge proportion of the country’s population pointed to high cost of housing and rising education and utility bills as their biggest worries, Gulf News quoted a survey conducted in the UAE.
Nearly seven in ten (64 percent) reportedly said that accommodation costs ate up the most of their budget, while a significant number (46 percent) are feeling the burden of increasing utility costs. An almost equal number, 45 percent, cited rising school fees as their biggest concern.
“Increased house rents, increased costs of utility items and children’s educational expenses appear to place the most pressure on households across the country,” Mohammed Qasim Al Ali, CEO of National Bonds, which commissioned the survey, reportedly said.
Dubai’s inflation rate rose to 1.75 percent during the first six months of the year compared to 12 months earlier. Housing, water, electricity and gas costs registered a 3.91 percent increase, data compiled by Dubai Statistics Center reportedly showed.
In Abu Dhabi, 51 private schools have just secured the green light to increase their fees by an average of six percent for the 2016-2017 academic year, the report said.
The school fee is just one of the myriad costs associated with child education . On top of the tuition, parents pay a registration fee, which can go up to Dh500 every year, just to ensure their child gets a slot at their preferred institution, said the news portal.
The cost of sending children to school is considered the second-biggest household expense for 40 percent of Arabs and 42 percent of Asian expats. It’s also the second-biggest expenditure for 31 percent of Emirati nationals and 30 percent of Western expatriates, reported Gulf News.
National Bonds had commissioned the survey in order to gain insights into the financial stability of UAE residents. The findings coincided with the latest PWC research, which found that more than half (52 percent) of the workers in the country are living in constant financial stress, the report said.
