Dublin is not a cheap place to live. The Economist Intelligence Unit Cost of Living Report ranks it as the 19th most expensive of 133 cities. On the plus side, this ranking does indicate that Dublin is less expensive than Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt as well as New York and LA in the USA and Singapore, Osaka, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney in the Asia-Pacific region.
Consumer goods
The price of consumer goods is quite high compared to other European cities, although this is coming down. Ongoing competition between supermarket chains has resulted in savings for the shopper at the till. Both Numbeo and Expartisan maintain up to date listings of average consumer goods prices.
The flip side to all this is the salary that you can earn working in Dublin. Average salaries are high and set to rise as the labour market tightens. Check what you can expect to earn in a range of industries at Irish Jobs.

Accommodation
The high cost of living is to a large extent driven by the high price of houses and of rental accommodation. Both are high on the government’s list of priorities and while costs are yet to fall, they are growing at a slower rate than a few years ago.
High house prices reflect Dublin’s success. They have been driven up by multinational corporations securing rooms for temporary workers and large numbers of international students, coming at a time when there is a shortage of new building projects. New government policy, however, particularly with regard to the development of apartments is having a positive effect on housing supply. AIB, a major Irish bank, has produced a report on housing supply in Ireland.