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The view across Lisbon, Portugal
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Portugal is famed for its people, climate, history, cuisine, and landscapes, and this thriving, modern European country is now on par with others in enticing travelers and expats to its shores. What’s more, once there, being wealthy in Portugal is much more accessible than in other European countries.
CNTraveler’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards recently placed Portugal in second place for The 20 Best Countries In The World (after Japan). Benefitting from an increasing number of direct flights from the U.S. to Lisbon and its second city, Porto, it is now on a par with Spain and Italy in terms of what it has to offer travelers in terms of delicious cuisine, rolling hills, wineries, and beach towns, plus it has the exceptional volcanic landscapes of the Azores. Porto is undergoing a tourist revival, and it was named one of Europe’s best small cities to visit in 2023.
Its capital, Lisbon, regularly tops lists of the most liveable and happiest places to visit, as determined by its residents, and the country lures expats to set up home through its affordable healthcare, free when you become a resident. It also ranks highly in terms of safety, regularly hitting The Institute for Economics and Peace’s top ten in the annual Global Peace Index due to low crime rates and political stability. In 2024, it came 7th.
In Mercer’s Quality of Living Report 2024, Lisbon ranked 27th in the best cities for expats to live out of 241 global cities, measuring the climate, disease, and sanitation standards, physical remoteness and ease of communications, the political and social environment and violence and crime in each city. Life expectancy at birth is 82, a little higher than the OECD average of 81 years–the average man can expect to live to 79 and women to 85.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. Portugal is in 12th place for Americans searching for countries to visit or move to in 2024 on Numbeo, the global cost of living database.
Being Wealthy In Portugal–Portugal’s Cost Of Living
Across European countries, Portugal has one of the lowest living costs.
When taken globally, a comparison of the cost of living in Portugal is lower than it is in many other countries such as the U.S., the U.K., and France:
France: $1,200 per month for a single person, not including rent.
U.S.: $1,166 per month for a single person, not including rent.
Canada: $1023 per month for a single person, not including rent.
Thailand: $650 per month for a single person, not including rent.
Portugal: $592 per month for a single person, not including rent.
Furthermore, when you factor in rent, it becomes clear that Portugal offers more again for your dollar per square meter. Rent in Portugal is 24% lower than the average in the U.K., for instance, and about 40-50% cheaper than rental averages across America.
Using New York as a comparison, rent is far cheaper still. In Lisbon, renting an apartment might cost $1,500, but on a like-for-like basis, the same place would cost $4,000 a month, a staggering 164% difference. To buy property in Lisbon, a square meter would cost, on average, around $6,300.
Being Wealthy In Portugal–Portugal’s Average Annual Salary
Sources vary, but the average salary in Portugal for residents is about $23,000 gross per year, with a monthly average gross of $1,835. The OECD Better Life Index states that the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is $24,877.
It is highest in Lisbon at $2,412. For expats, the average annual salary is significantly higher at $102,669. The minimum wage in Portugal for 2025 is around $912.
Being Wealthy In Portugal–The Top 10%
There has been a 45% increase in household wealth in Portugal since 2019, driven by a sharp rise in property prices, and people invest the lion’s share of household wealth in their homes. Like most EU countries, half of all assets are concentrated in the top 10% of the population.
According to Henley & Partners, more investors with higher net wealth are making Portugal their home. In 2023, one million foreigners were living in the country (10% of the population). It was the ninth most popular destination for relocating millionaires in 2024, with 800 of them that had more than $1 million or more in liquid wealth, making the move.
In December 2023, 62,700 millionaires were living in Portugal, and 108 were centi-millionaires (someone with more than $100 million in liquid wealth). Many live in Lisbon or along the Algarve coast, and indeed, the Algarve becomes the temporary home to many of the world’s centi-millionaires during peak season.
It’s clear then that Portugal is as attractive to expats as it is to travelers with a lower cost of living than other European countries. What it means to be wealthy in Portugal is also significantly lower than in other countries, including most of the U.S.. More information of moving to Portugal can be found on the U.S. government website here.
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Publish date : 2024-12-18 07:15:00
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Publish date : 2024-12-18 15:47:49
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