ANSA whilst what you say is true, you are missing a very important point. In the regions you chose to compare (UK, AUS and EU) they monitor consumer prices and workers through various agreements generally have thier sallaries adjusted to at least match this increase. This does not happen in Dubai unless you were one of the "local" government employees recently. The guy doing the job I left back in Oz is being paid 50% more than when I was doing it. (Maybe he's just that much better, I don't know). By contrast the sallary for the FO job I started with here has gone up about 13%. Yet which place has had the highest inflation over the same period?? Dubai is way ahead. Sure petrol etc is cheaper in Dubai but as a % of take home cash, things have risen significantly.