Living costs in Portugal

Living costs in Portugal One of the most appealing aspects to spending time in Portugal is its affordability.

Whether it’s buying a coffee, a beer or menu do día (menu of the day) or travelling by train, the cost of living tends to be cheaper than in the UK.

Groceries

You’ll find that day to day living is cheaper than in the UK. Your food budget will be noticeably less if you don’t buy lots of expensive imported goods, and eat fresh produce from local markets and buy local wine (of which there are many great varieties). You will particularly notice the affordability outside the major cities - Lisbon is inevitably more expensive for dining out than anywhere else, even in Porto, but much more so than villages or non-tourist towns.

Travel

Buying a car and petrol costs are considerably expensive in contrast to many other parts of Portuguese life (and there are toll fees on motorways) but public transport options are cheap and efficient.

Running costs and utilities

Make sure you are aware of the all the running costs involved with owning a home in Portugal.

As a rule of thumb wherever you are, the more facilities there are, the higher the charges. If you run your own swimming pool this will incur extra costs, but the cost of household help (gardeners and cleaners) tends to be lower than in the UK (if you are outside of Lisbon). Buildings insurance and contents insurance tend to be similar to those in the UK, and utility and broadband bills tend to be roughly the same, or a little cheaper.