Lisbon’s Ranking Amongst the World’s Most Expensive Cities

Ago 8, 2023

What is the position of Lisbon among the most expensive cities in the world to live in? This is what we are going to see in this article.

What determines whether a city is expensive? In Portugal, one of the factors that carries significant weight is housing, whether for purchase or rent. The high inflation and market fluctuations have greatly impacted the cost of living worldwide, influencing the choices of those who opt to work outside their home country.

Upon scrutinizing the cost of living across 227 cities globally, Mercer has determined that Hong Kong remains the most expensive city for expatriates in 2023, followed by Singapore and Zurich. Lisbon, on the other hand, ranks 117th in this list, marking a decline of 8 positions compared to the previous year.

View the full city ranking
Rank City Location Change
1 Hong Kong Hong Kong (SAR) 0
2 Singapore Singapore 6
3 Zurich Switzerland -1
4 Geneva Switzerland -1
5 Basel Switzerland -1
6 New York City, NY United States 1
7 Bern Switzerland -2
8 Tel Aviv Israel -2
9 Copenhagen Denmark 2
10 Nassau Bahamas 6
11 Los Angeles, CA United States 6
12 Shanghai China 0
13 Beijing China -3
14 San Francisco, CA United States 5
15 Honolulu, HI United States 5
16 Seoul South Korea -2
17 London United Kingdom -2
18 Dubai United Arab Emirates 13
19 Tokyo Japan -10
20 Shenzhen China -7
21 Boston, MA United States 9
22 Miami, Fl United States 10
23 Washington, DC United States 6
24 Chicago, IL United States 12
25 Vienna Austria -4
26 Bangui Central African Republic -3
27 Djibouti Djibouti 14
28 Amsterdam Netherlands -3
29 Atlanta, GA United States 13
30 Luanda Angola 34
31 Seattle, WA United States 14
32 Kinshasa The Democratic Republic of the Congo 21
33 Prague Czech Republic 27
34 Helsinki Finland 9
35 Paris France 0
36 Guangzhou China -18
37 Berlin Germany 9
38 Munich Germany -5
39 Conakry Guinea Republic 37
40 N’Djamena Chad 40
41 Brussels Belgium -2
42 Victoria Seychelles -4
43 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 18
44 San Juan Puerto Rico 28
45 Buenos Aires Argentina 69
46 The Hague Netherlands 1
47 Lagos Nigeria 8
48 Frankfurt Germany 14
49 Milan Italy -1
50 Philadelphia, PA United States 20
51 Dublin Ireland -2
52 Libreville Gabon -28
53 Dallas, TX United States 22
54 Montevideo Uruguay 69
55 Qingdao China -33
56 Sydney Australia 2
57 Taipei Taiwan -29
58 Luxembourg Luxembourg -6
59 Rome Italy -2
60 Oslo Norway -33
61 Houston, TX United States 24
62 Hamburg Germany -3
63 San Jose Costa Rica 76
64 Riga Latvia 15
65 Pittsburgh, PA United States 17
66 Dakar Senegal -1
67 Minneapolis, MN United States 16
68 Busan South Korea -34
69 Stuttgart Germany 2
70 Noumea New Caledonia -16
71 Melbourne Australia -4
72 Portland, OR United States 19
73 Nanjing China -47
74 Dusseldorf Germany 7
75 Barcelona Spain 3
76 Shenyang China -36
77 Abidjan Côte D’Ivoire -9
78 St. Louis, MO United States 23
79 Mexico City Mexico 70
80 Detroit, MI United States 27
81 Douala Cameroon -4
82 Brisbane Australia 2
83 Madrid Spain 7
84 Brazzaville The Republic Of Congo -10
85 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 18
86 Edinburgh United Kingdom -20
87 Santiago Chile 43
88 Cleveland, OH United States 24
89 Chengdu China -45
90 Toronto Canada -1
91 Leipzig Germany 8
92 Lyon France 4
93 Osaka Japan -56
94 Canberra Australia 10
95 Stockholm Sweden -8
96 Nuremberg Germany 20
97 Athens Greece 29
98 Manama Bahrain 19
99 Chongqing China -43
100 Tallinn Estonia 40
101 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 10
102 Yaounde Cameroon -2
103 Pointe-à-Pitre Guadeloupe (France) -15
104 Bratislava Slovakia 1
105 Bangkok Thailand 1
106 Adelaide Australia -4
107 Perth Australia -10
108 Xian China -45
109 Glasgow United Kingdom -23
110 Amman Jordan 5
111 Auckland New Zealand -16
112 Suzhou China -43
113 Nagoya Japan -62
114 Harare Zimbabwe 15
115 Yokohama Japan -65
116 Vancouver Canada -8
117 Lisbon Portugal -8
118 Birmingham United Kingdom -24
119 Aberdeen United Kingdom -26
120 Port of Spain Trinidad & Tobago 15
121 Toulouse France -11
122 Wuhan China -49
123 Vilnius Lithuania 25
124 Taichung Taiwan -32
125 Belfast United Kingdom -4
126 Doha Qatar 7
127 Kingston Jamaica 26
128 Bamako Mali -10
129 Bujumbura Burundi 15
130 Muscat Oman -11
131 Kuwait City Kuwait 0
132 Phnom Penh Cambodia 2
133 Manila Philippines -11
134 Lome Togo -10
135 Montreal Canada -10
136 Guatemala City Guatemala 0
137 Ottawa Canada -5
138 Kaohsiung Taiwan -25
139 Wellington New Zealand -19
140 Abuja Nigeria 7
141 Yerevan Armenia 56
142 Bucharest Romania 16
143 Ljubljana Slovenia 2
144 Cotonou Benin -16
145 Calgary Canada -4
146 Zagreb Croatia 13
147 Mumbai India -20
148 Panama City Panama 4
149 Ouagadougou Burkina Faso -12
150 Quito Ecuador 6
151 Jakarta Indonesia 0
152 Sao Paulo Brazil 16
153 Tirana Albania 8
154 Dhaka Bangladesh -56
155 Monterrey Mexico 30
156 Hanoi Vietnam -6
157 Niamey Niger -19
158 Casablanca Morocco -15
159 Maputo Mozambique 8
160 Santo Domingo Dominican Republic 13
161 Budapest Hungary 19
162 Dar Es Salaam Tanzania 2
163 Nouakchott Mauritania 6
164 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam -1
165 Limassol Cyprus 0
166 Kampala Uganda 0
167 Lima Peru 5
168 Sofia Bulgaria 2
169 New Delhi India -14
170 Warsaw Poland 4
171 Rio De Janeiro Brazil 5
172 Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei 7
173 Nairobi Kenya -13
174 Rabat Morocco -12
175 Belgrade Serbia 0
176 San Salvador El Salvador 6
177 Baku Azerbaijan 9
178 Accra Ghana -32
179 Tegucigalpa Honduras 10
180 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 1
181 Tbilisi Georgia 36
182 Minsk Belarus 22
183 Port-Au-Prince Haiti -12
184 Chennai India -7
185 Istanbul Turkey 37
186 Wroclaw Poland 1
187 Port Louis Mauritius 4
188 Brasilia Brazil 12
189 Bengaluru India -11
190 Krakow Poland 0
191 Kigali Rwanda 17
192 Asuncion Paraguay 3
193 Antananarivo Madagascar -5
194 Addis Ababa Ethiopia 20
195 La Paz Bolivia 1
196 Manaus Brazil 11
197 Lusaka Zambia 2
198 Blantyre Malawi -14
199 Belo Horizonte Brazil 11
200 Skopje North Macedonia 6
201 Managua Nicaragua 11
202 Hyderabad India -10
203 Sarajevo Bosnia-Herzegovina 6
204 Yangon Myanmar -6
205 Johannesburg South Africa -12
206 Algiers Algeria 12
207 Banjul Gambia -5
208 Almaty Kazakhstan 11
209 Vientiane Lao People’s Democratic Republic -52
210 Cape Town South Africa -16
211 Kolkata India -8
212 Johor Bahru Malaysia -1
213 Pune India -12
214 Bogota Colombia -9
215 Colombo Sri Lanka -32
216 Gaborone Botswana -1
217 Cairo Egypt -63
218 Tashkent Uzbekistan 3
219 Tunis Tunisia 1
220 Durban South Africa -4
221 Ankara Turkey 6
222 Windhoek Namibia -9
223 Dushanbe Tajikistan 2
224 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan 2
225 Havana Cuba -83
226 Karachi Pakistan -3
227 Islamabad Pakistan -3

For those who immigrate for work or possess the liberty to work remotely from any corner of the world, one of the pivotal considerations when selecting a destination is the balance between cost and quality of life. Within this context, Mercer’s Cost of Living City Ranking for 2023 holds the potential to provide assistance.

Notably, it is evident that five European cities feature among the top 10 most expensive places to reside: four of these are located in Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern), while the fifth is Copenhagen, Denmark.

Among the European cities exhibiting a high cost of living, London (17th), Vienna (25th), Amsterdam (28th), and Prague (33rd) stand out. Prague has climbed 27 positions since the previous year, and Helsinki (34th) also appears on the list.

It is necessary to descend to the 117th position to find Lisbon, which rests in the middle of the ranking and has slid eight places since the last edition.

Upon examining the various components that contribute to the cost of living, it is evident that housing in the Portuguese capital has become substantially more expensive in comparison to other regions. Additionally, the Euro has depreciated against other currencies like the Dollar, rendering Lisbon “relatively more affordable,” he further asserts.

Globally, “cost is not the sole factor that influences the attractiveness of a location for workers and businesses. An equally important factor is the overall quality of life a city provides. On the other hand, risks and other negative aspects such as natural disasters, political and/or economic turmoil, high crime rates, inadequate infrastructure, and limited international connectivity can have the opposite effect,” as indicated in the study. The study examines various components of the cost of living, encompassing housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

In this context, the cities that are “most successful” in attracting workers, digital nomads, and telecommuters are those that “combine flexible policies for mobile talent, high quality of life, and reasonable cost of living,” the study concludes.

About Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey

Mercer’s widely recognized survey is one of the world’s most comprehensive studies of its kind. It is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their international assignees.

Governments and major companies use data from this survey to protect the purchasing power of their employees when they are transferred abroad. For example, data on rental accommodation costs is used to assess local international assignees’ housing allowances. The choice of cities surveyed is based on demand for data from Mercer’s clients.

Stay tuned to MB Consulting for more information. If you want a quick contact from our team, use our contact us form and we will be happy to help you during your stay in Portugal.

Source:

idealista.pt
mercer.com

Maria Bravo
CEO/ PARTNER
MB CONSULTING
AMI:18422

+351 910 115 120

[email protected]