DSSR · Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates COLA (Post Allowance) Rate (DSSR)

Effective date: July 12, 2026 Last updated: July 12, 2026
Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
20%
% of spendable income

Historical rate trend

Abu Dhabi rate history — COLA (Post Allowance) (%). Query any past effective date directly via the API.

Effective date COLA (Post Allowance) (%)
Jul 12, 2026 20%
Feb 8, 2026 20%
Oct 20, 2024 30%
Oct 9, 2022 25%
Oct 10, 2021 15%
Oct 11, 2020 25%
Jun 23, 2019 30%
Jan 12, 2014 25%

How this rate is used

The post (cost-of-living) allowance offsets higher overseas costs of goods and services for U.S. government civilian employees assigned to Abu Dhabi. It is expressed as a percentage of spendable income and is used by mobility, HR and payroll teams to compute overseas compensation.

Get this data from the API

The exact request that returns this page's data. Change the date parameter to query any historical effective date, or pull it straight into your ERP, payroll, or expense system.

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://api.allowancesapi.com/v1/dssr/allowances/AE?type=cola"
Sample response
{
  "effective_date": "2026-07-12",
  "results": [
    {
      "cola": {
        "effective_date": "2026-07-12",
        "rate": 20
      },
      "iso_code": "AE",
      "location": "Abu Dhabi",
      "postcode": "10368"
    }
  ],
  "verification_url": "https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=184\u0026menu_id=78"
}

Abu Dhabi rate FAQ

What is the COLA (Post Allowance) rate for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates?

The current DSSR COLA (Post Allowance) rate for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is 20%, effective Jul 12, 2026.

How has the Abu Dhabi COLA (Post Allowance) rate changed?

In Feb 8, 2026 the COLA (Post Allowance) rate was 20%. The full history is shown in the table above and is queryable by effective date via the API.

Source & methodology

Effective period
Effective Jul 12, 2026
Last updated
July 12, 2026

Allowances API is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any U.S. Government agency. All rate data is sourced from official public rate tables and re-published in a normalized format.