---
title: "Cost of Living: Cape Town vs Lisbon — Geo-Parity"
description: "Portugal is 64% more expensive than South Africa for monthly essentials ($1,414 vs $864). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-south-africa/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=ZA&target=PT"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · ZA vs PT

# 🇿🇦 Cape Town vs 🇵🇹 Lisbon: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$864** in South Africa vs **$1,414** in Portugal — 64% more expensive.

- **Essentials, South Africa**: $864/mo
- **Essentials, Portugal**: $1,414/mo
- **Difference**: +64%
- **1-bed city rent, Portugal**: $955/mo

## Biggest differences

Smallest premium in Portugal

- Running shoes (brand): +18%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): +18%
- Petrol/gasoline, 1L: +18%

Pricier in Portugal

- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: +76%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: +76%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: +76%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | South Africa | Portugal | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $542 | $955 (846 EUR) | +76% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $434 | $764 (676 EUR) | +76% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $991 | $1,747 (1,546 EUR) | +76% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $7.17 | $11.19 (10 EUR) | +56% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $29.87 | $46.62 (41 EUR) | +56% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $4.76 | $7.14 (6 EUR) | +50% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.56 | $0.78 (1 EUR) | +39% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $1.64 | $2.26 (2 EUR) | +38% |
| Eggs, dozen | $1.74 | $2.41 (2 EUR) | +39% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $5.12 | $7.08 (6 EUR) | +38% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.05 | $2.83 (3 EUR) | +38% |
| Apples, 1kg | $2.46 | $3.40 (3 EUR) | +38% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $6.14 | $8.49 (8 EUR) | +38% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.02 | $1.42 (1 EUR) | +39% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $2.39 | $3.73 (3 EUR) | +56% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $5.72 | $6.73 (6 EUR) | +18% |
| Cappuccino | $1.99 | $3.11 (3 EUR) | +56% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.18 | $1.63 (1 EUR) | +38% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $28.15 | $42.19 (37 EUR) | +50% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.19 | $1.78 (2 EUR) | +50% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $1.59 | $2.49 (2 EUR) | +57% |
| Taxi, per km | $0.72 | $1.12 (1 EUR) | +56% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.68 | $0.80 (1 EUR) | +18% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $86.60 | $130 (115 EUR) | +50% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $30.31 | $45.43 (40 EUR) | +50% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $19.49 | $29.21 (26 EUR) | +50% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $19.91 | $31.08 (28 EUR) | +56% |
| Cinema seat | $5.58 | $8.70 (8 EUR) | +56% |
| Men's haircut | $11.95 | $18.65 (17 EUR) | +56% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $39.35 | $46.27 (41 EUR) | +18% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $64.39 | $75.71 (67 EUR) | +18% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $99.56 | $155 (138 EUR) | +56% |

Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the [interactive tool](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=prices&base=ZA&target=PT).

## Beyond prices

What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about **8,580 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $364 | $2,073 |
| Rent, 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $511 | $619 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 140.4% | 29.8% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $36.00 | $838 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 0.8 | 5.8 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Cape Town and Lisbon. | 182 | 130 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | weak | strong |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 5.1 (high) | 1.9 (very low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 12 | 13 + 3 regional |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 19.8 | 6.5 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 66.3 | 82.4 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 43.7 | 0.7 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 78.4% | 88.5% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 62.8 | 257.5 |

## Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?

Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.

🇿🇦 South Africa

131.9 pts

8.5% of your income vs 140.4% of a local wage

🇵🇹 Portugal

19.5 pts

10.3% of your income vs 29.8% of a local wage

Worked at $6,000/month. [Run it on your own income](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=housing)

## The whole South Africa → Portugal move, in one place

Everything above is free and always will be. The relocation report is the same engines run together for this one corridor: what you keep after rent, prices, healthcare and tax; the local wage ladder you would be earning against; which visas your income qualifies for; the day count that makes you tax-resident; and the months worth being there for.

[See the South Africa → Portugal report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/south-africa-to-portugal/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

- [Reverse view: Portugal vs South Africa](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-south-africa/)
- [Fair salary: South Africa → Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/salary/south-africa-to-portugal/)
- [How much to retire in Portugal?](https://geo-parity.com/fire/portugal/)
- [Cost of living in Portugal vs the US](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/portugal/)

## More comparisons

### South Africa compared with

- [South Africa vs Japan](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-japan/)
- [South Africa vs Spain](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-spain/)
- [South Africa vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-italy/)
- [South Africa vs Singapore](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-singapore/)
- [South Africa vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-greece/)
- [South Africa vs Czechia](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-africa-vs-czechia/)

### Moving to Portugal from

- [Argentina vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/argentina-vs-portugal/)
- [Brazil vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/brazil-vs-portugal/)
- [Saudi Arabia vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/saudi-arabia-vs-portugal/)
- [China vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/china-vs-portugal/)
- [Türkiye vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/turkiye-vs-portugal/)
- [Chile vs Portugal](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/chile-vs-portugal/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much more expensive is Portugal than South Africa?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $1,414 in Portugal versus $864 in South Africa — 64% more. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Portugal?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $3.73 in Portugal (≈ 3.3 EUR), versus about $2.39 in South Africa.
- **How much is rent in Portugal compared to South Africa?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $955/month in Portugal versus $542/month in South Africa (+76%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- **How are these prices estimated?**: Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.

Model estimates — verify locally. Agents: GET /api/micro-costs.json?base=ZA&target=PT.

---

Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-south-africa/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=ZA&target=PT