Cost of Living in Lisbon (2026): Real Monthly Budgets, With Sources

Lisbon is no longer a cheap capital for anyone paying rent: housing took 43.8 percent of household spending in the Lisbon area in INE's last survey, while public transport stays cheap and regulated energy moderate. This guide answers the cost-of-living question with numbers you can check: a monthly budget for a single person, a couple and a family of four, built line by line from official statistics, regulated tariffs, the operators' fares and named rent reports, with the sum shown. It is written for people who live in Lisbon or are about to.

How Much Does It Cost to Live in Lisbon in 2026?

For the essentials, a single person renting their own one-bedroom flat in Lisbon needs about 1,371 to 1,631 euros a month, and a couple about 1,504 to 1,764 euros, as of October 2026. A room in a shared flat brings a single person down to about 683 euros plus a share of the bills, and a family of four in a three-bedroom flat needs about 2,550 to 2,990 euros. Rent is most of it. These are our sums of the cited costs below (rent, electricity, water and waste, food at home and public transport), not a survey of what people spend. They exclude internet and mobile, eating out, schooling and leisure, and the food line uses 2022/2023 spending, so read them as a floor.

What Does a Monthly Budget in Lisbon Look Like?

Each table below adds up the cited components for one household type, with the low and high ends of the rent band carried through. The ranges come from rent: everything else is a single cited figure. Every line is rounded to the nearest euro. Change any line to your own situation and the total moves with it.

Single person, own one-bedroom flat

Single person, room in a shared flat

Bills in a shared flat are either included in the room price or split between flatmates, so ask before you sign. Add your share if they are not included (the whole-flat figures are in the table above).

Couple, one-bedroom flat

Family of four (two adults, two children), three-bedroom flat

Not included in any table: internet and mobile (we found no official average price for Portugal to cite), school or nursery fees, private health insurance, a car, clothes, eating out and holidays. This is a floor for the essentials, not a lifestyle budget. It is also why our Moving to Lisbon guide gives a higher all-in figure of about 1,700 to 2,400 EUR a month for a single person: that one includes eating out a few times a week.

How Much Is Rent in Lisbon in 2026?

Asking rent in Lisbon averaged about 21.8 euros per square metre in June 2026 (idealista's city report, the latest month with every freguesia), which puts a 60 m² one-bedroom at roughly 1,180 to 1,440 euros a month and a 100 m² three-bedroom at roughly 1,960 to 2,400 euros. A room in a shared flat is about 550 euros (idealista, Q2 2026). The official figure for signed contracts is lower.

These are the same figures as our renting in Lisbon guide and the where to live in Lisbon area pages, which break them down by freguesia. Two other numbers circulate and both are right on their own terms: idealista's national monthly release put Lisbon at 25.1 euros per square metre for September 2026, a differently built series, and INE's median for the April to June quarter alone was 17.79 euros, up 5.1 percent in a year. Budget against the asking band if you are signing now.

How Much Are Electricity, Gas and Water in Lisbon?

On the regulated tariff, expect about 38 euros a month for electricity for a couple without children and about 98 euros for a family of four, from October 2026, plus about 20 euros a month for water, sanitation and waste in a typical flat.

EPAL publishes no total bill, so the 20 euros is our own sum for 7 m³ a month, the use EPAL says 85 percent of its customers are close to: water 5.82 + (5 x 0.4634) + (2 x 0.8666) + (7 x 0.1483) = 10.91 euros, 11.56 with 6 percent VAT; sanitation 2.999 + (5 x 0.2198) + (1.3 x 0.5787) = 4.85 euros; waste 2.2333 + (7 x 0.1710) + (7 x 0.0523) = 3.80 euros. Total about 20.21 euros. We left out the water-resources tax of a few cents per m³, and any VAT on sanitation and waste, which we could not confirm. Each extra m³ above 7 adds about 1.82 euros. ERSE's bills are for the regulated tariff, which had about 779,000 customers; homes on the free market pay whatever their supplier charges.

How Much Does Public Transport Cost in Lisbon?

The Navegante Municipal pass, unlimited travel on Carris, the Metro and the other operators inside Lisbon (or Amadora or Odivelas), costs 30 euros a month in 2026, and the Navegante Metropolitano, valid across the whole metropolitan area, costs 40 euros. Under-23s and Lisbon residents aged 65 and over travel free.

Check the Navegante Família eligibility rules on navegante.pt before relying on it for a household. Fares are reviewed each January.

How Much Do Groceries Cost in Lisbon?

The official anchor is about 103 euros a month per person for food and non-alcoholic drink at home, and it is a floor. Portuguese households spent 3,091 euros a year on food in INE's 2022/2023 household budget survey, and the 2021 census puts the average household at 2.5 people: 3,091 / 2.5 / 12 = 103 euros. That is a national average at 2022/2023 prices, and food has kept getting dearer: unprocessed food was 3.4 percent dearer in August 2026 than a year before and 3.6 percent in September's flash estimate (INE, as reported by Observador and Renascença). INE does not split the food figure for the Lisbon area.

For a price tracker, the consumer organisation DECO PROteste follows a weekly basket of 63 products bought online: it cost 256.46 euros on 15 July 2026, down from 259.52 euros in April 2026, and Continente was the cheapest of the online supermarkets it checks, with Pingo Doce and Froiz 1 percent dearer. The basket is an index, not a household's weekly shop, and it uses national online prices, so there is no Lisbon-specific figure.

What Do Households in the Lisbon Area Actually Spend?

Households in the Lisbon metropolitan area spent 26,891 euros a year in 2022/2023, against 23,900 euros for Portugal, and 43.8 percent of it, 11,768 euros, went on housing, water, electricity and gas, against 39.3 percent nationally (INE Portugal, IDEF 2022/2023, final results June 2024). That is about 2,241 euros a month per household. Housing here includes an imputed rent for owners, so this is not a renter's budget, but it is the best official cross-check on the tables above, and it shows why rent is the line to plan around.

How Fast Are Prices Rising, and What Is the Minimum Wage?

Portugal's annual inflation rate was 3.6 percent in September 2026 on INE's flash estimate (published 30 September 2026, as reported by Renascença), up from 3.3 percent in August, with energy up 15.4 percent. The final September figure is due on 13 October 2026. For tenants on an existing contract, the legal rent-update coefficient for 2027 is 2.56 percent (INE, as reported).

The national minimum wage (salário mínimo nacional) is 920 euros a month in 14 payments from 1 January 2026 (Decreto-Lei 139/2025), 12,880 euros a year or about 1,073 euros a month over 12. Set against a one-bedroom asking band of 1,180 to 1,440 euros, the minimum wage does not cover a Lisbon flat alone, which is why sharing and longer commutes from the metropolitan area are so common.

What Does Healthcare Cost in Lisbon?

Public healthcare through the SNS is essentially free at the point of use for registered residents. The user fees (taxas moderadoras) were abolished for almost all SNS care from 1 June 2022 (Decreto-Lei 37/2022). The main exception is a hospital emergency visit without a referral from your health centre or the SNS 24 line that does not end in admission, according to the health regulator ERS. Under-18s, pregnant women and people on low incomes are exempt even then. Private health insurance is common among expats, but its price depends on age, insurer and cover, and there is no official average to quote.

What Do These Numbers Leave Out?

The budgets on this page are built from items that have an official or named price. Several real costs do not, so they are left out rather than guessed:

• Internet and mobile. We found no official average price for a Portuguese fibre and mobile bundle to cite, so check the operators' current offers and add the price you are quoted.
• Eating out. The prato do dia, a bica or a beer vary too much by tasca and neighbourhood for an honest single figure, and there is no official price series for them by city.
• School and childcare. State schools are free; private and international schools set their own fees.
• Moving in. The deposit (caução), any rent paid in advance and furnishing the flat are one-off costs. Our renting in Lisbon guide covers what landlords may ask.
• Tax. Income tax, and the property tax (IMI) if you buy, depend on your income and the property.

Cost of Living in Lisbon: FAQ

How much does it cost to live in Lisbon per month in 2026?

For the essentials (rent, electricity, water and waste, food at home and public transport), our arithmetic from official and named sources gives about 1,371 to 1,631 euros a month for a single person in their own one-bedroom flat, about 683 euros plus a share of the bills in a shared flat, 1,504 to 1,764 euros for a couple and 2,550 to 2,990 euros for a family of four in a three-bedroom flat. Prices as of October 2026. Internet, eating out, schooling and leisure come on top.

How much is rent in Lisbon?

A 60 m² one-bedroom flat in Lisbon is advertised at roughly 1,180 to 1,440 euros a month (idealista, June 2026, city average of 21.8 euros per square metre), and a room in a shared flat at about 550 euros (idealista, Q2 2026). The official INE median for new lease contracts was 17.43 euros per square metre in the 12 months to June 2026, about 1,046 euros for 60 m².

How much are utilities in Lisbon?

On the regulated tariff, ERSE puts the typical electricity bill from October 2026 at 37.77 euros a month for a couple without children and 97.73 euros for a couple with two children, taxes included. Water, sanitation and waste for a flat using 7 m³ a month come to about 20 euros on the 2026 EPAL and city tariffs (our calculation). Regulated natural gas runs 17.38 to 32.53 euros a month on ERSE's typical profiles.

How much is a monthly public transport pass in Lisbon?

The Navegante Municipal pass, unlimited travel on Carris, the Metro and other operators within Lisbon, costs 30 euros a month in 2026, and the Navegante Metropolitano for the whole metropolitan area costs 40 euros. Under-23s get the Metropolitano free, and residents of Lisbon aged 65 and over travel free in the city. A single Carris or Metro ticket is 1.90 euros, or 1.72 on Zapping credit.

How much do groceries cost in Lisbon?

Portuguese households spent 3,091 euros a year on food and non-alcoholic drink in 2022/2023 (INE Portugal, IDEF), about 103 euros per person a month at the 2021 census average of 2.5 people per household. Prices have risen since: unprocessed food was 3.4 percent dearer in August 2026 than a year earlier (INE, as reported). The DECO PROteste weekly basket of 63 products cost 256.46 euros on 15 July 2026.

What is the minimum wage in Portugal in 2026?

The salário mínimo nacional is 920 euros a month in 14 payments from 1 January 2026 (Decreto-Lei 139/2025), 12,880 euros a year or about 1,073 euros a month spread over 12 months.

Is Lisbon expensive compared with the rest of Portugal?

For rent, yes. The INE median rent on new contracts in Lisbon was 17.79 euros per square metre in Q2 2026 against 10.17 for Portugal as a whole, and households in the Lisbon metropolitan area spent 26,891 euros a year in 2022/2023, against 23,900 nationally, with 43.8 percent going on housing (INE Portugal).

Can I use Numbeo for the cost of living in Lisbon?

As a rough cross-check only. Numbeo figures are crowd-sourced estimates entered by users, with no fixed sample or date, so we do not use them as fact. This page uses official statistics, regulated tariffs, the operators' fares and named market reports, each with its date.