Cost of living in Portugal
64.9 with the United States at 100
Prices in Portugal are 35% cheaper than the United States, and it ranks 68th of 204 countries by price level (dearest first). Figures are for 2025.
Against New Zealand it is 27% cheaper.
Two agencies agree. For 2024, the World Bank's figure works out at 60.5 and Eurostat's at 62.7 — a gap of 2.2 points. Two independent programmes landing within 5 points is the strongest evidence available that the level is right.
Compared with its region
Portugal against the Europe & Central Asia countries closest to it on price level.
- Portugal 64.9
- Greece 65.5
- Slovak Republic 63.9
- Cyprus 66.9
- Czechia 67.0
- Slovenia 67.0
- Latvia 62.4
- Lithuania 62.1
- Spain 68.7
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What is dear and what is cheap
Eurostat prices 19 spending categories separately for Portugal (2024), again with the United States at 100. This is where a national average stops being one number: a country can be cheap to eat in and expensive to drive in.
- Communication 115.6
- Non-alcoholic drinks 113.2
- Alcoholic drinks 109.1
- Milk, cheese and eggs 107.5
- Bread and cereals 102.5
- Food and non-alcoholic drinks 101.5
- Furnishings and household equipment 98.9
- Fruit and vegetables 98.5
- Clothing and footwear 93.5
- Fish 91.0
- Transport 89.2
- Meat 87.9
- Health 86.6
- Recreation and culture 85.9
- Tobacco 85.2
- Housing, water, electricity and fuel 80.1
- Restaurants and hotels 75.5
- Education 72.0
- Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services) 57.0
SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What this figure is, and is not
- It is an index, not a price. 64.9 means the general level of consumer prices, with the US at 100. It is not a shopping bill and this site never quotes one.
- It is national, not city. Lisbon is almost certainly dearer than this. National averages cannot answer a city question.
- It is not your budget. What you actually spend depends on rent, transport and habits far more than on the national average.
How the price level is worked out
- The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
- The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
- Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
- Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026