Cost of living in Portugal

What the calculator counts

The calculator builds a monthly budget from seven lines: rent for the flat size you choose, then six everyday categories. Each everyday line starts from a Lisbon baseline and is scaled by a city index: Lisbon 1.00, Porto 0.94, Faro 0.93, Funchal 0.90, Aveiro 0.87, Coimbra 0.86 and Braga 0.85. Groceries, eating out and household spending are also scaled by your lifestyle: modest ×0.8, comfortable ×1.0, generous ×1.3.

Monthly cost of living in Portugal: single, couple, family

Four typical households, straight from the calculator:

"Family of 4" means two adults and two children.

Worked example: a couple in Porto

Open the calculator with its default settings: Porto, two adults, no children, a rented T2, comfortable lifestyle. The total is €2,735 a month: rent €1,480, utilities and internet €183, groceries €432, transport €75, dining and leisure €338, health and insurance €85, household and misc €141. The same life in Lisbon comes to €3,115, so the calculator shows Porto at about 88% of Lisbon, 12% cheaper. Switch the home to "I own" and the total drops to €1,255, because no rent is counted.

Rent: the biggest line

For the Porto couple, rent is more than half of the budget, and it moves more between neighbourhoods than any other line. The calculator uses the typical market rent for a T1, T2 or T3. For studios, rent per m², official INE figures, deposits and contracts, see our page on average rent by city.

Groceries and eating out

Groceries are the line that most often surprises newcomers: supermarket prices are not far from much of Western Europe, so the calculator gives groceries a larger share than dining. Eating out, on the other hand, is one of Portugal's genuine bargains. If you cook most meals, choose "modest"; if you eat out several times a week, "generous" is more honest.

Utilities and internet

The €170 base covers electricity, water, gas and a fibre internet bundle for one person in Lisbon, plus €25 for each extra person. The seasonal catch is winter: many older homes have no central heating, and electric heaters can multiply the electricity bill from December to February. Before you move, read how to set up utilities; you will need a NIF and a Portuguese bank account.

Transport

The calculator counts €40 per person per month before the city index. In the two big metropolitan areas that is the price of an all-operator monthly pass: navegante Metropolitano in Lisbon and Andante Metropolitano in Porto both cost €40, and a single-municipality pass €30. Young people aged 4 to 23 travel free with the youth pass, and navegante +65 costs €20, so families and retirees often spend less than the calculator shows. A car is not included: fuel, insurance, tolls and parking come on top.

Health and school

Once you are a resident with a número de utente, the public health service (SNS) is essentially free at the point of use: since June 2022 co-payments are charged only in emergency departments when you arrive without an SNS referral and are not admitted. The calculator's €45 per adult and €25 per child is a modest allowance for pharmacy costs, occasional private appointments or a basic health plan; comprehensive private insurance, especially at older ages, costs more. See healthcare for expats.

State schools are free for residents' children, so the calculator has no school line. International school fees are not included and can outweigh rent: compare them in our directory of international schools and fees and add them yourself.

What the budget leaves out

The calculator is an estimate of everyday running costs, not a full financial plan. It leaves out income tax, a car, childcare, private school fees, flights home and one-off moving costs. If you own your home, it also leaves out IMI property tax and condomínio fees. Build those in separately, and if you are still choosing where to live, the region matcher ranks seven areas by what matters to you.