Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Matola

For one person, living is cheaper in Matola: $999 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $17,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index
48

Cost of Living Index in Matola
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Matola Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Matola

🇲🇿 Mozambique

$999

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Matola

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Barcelona and in Matola actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,453 in Barcelona versus $999 in Matola.

Barcelona $2,453
Matola $999

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,509 in Barcelona versus $1,523 in Matola.

Barcelona $3,509
Matola $1,523

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,564 in Barcelona versus $2,048 in Matola.

Barcelona $4,564
Matola $2,048

Living in Barcelona is roughly 146% more expensive than in Matola, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 80% above, Matola is 27% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.59 €15.69

$7.80 MZN 493

125.51%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.2

$62.6 MZN 3,960

7.79%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.07

$7.34 MZN 464

84.33%

Cappuccino

$3.19 €2.85

$1.59 MZN 100

100.63%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.91 €2.60

$0.82 MZN 52.0

254.88%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 €1.69

$0.67 MZN 42.67

182.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.01 €3.58

$1.18 MZN 74.8

239.83%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 €4.04

$1.54 MZN 97.5

194.16%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.16

$1.59 MZN 101

-17.61%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 €1.80

$0.99 MZN 62.6

104.04%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.85 €1.65

$1.59 MZN 101

16.35%

Eggs

$4.83 €4.31

$1.93 MZN 122

150.26%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.74 €14.93

$13.47 MZN 852

24.28%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.12 €8.14

$5.82 MZN 368

56.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.64 €17.52

$4.76 MZN 301

312.61%

Apples (1kg)

$2.98 €2.66

$1.97 MZN 125

51.27%

Banana (1kg)

$2.02 €1.80

$0.62 MZN 39.38

225.81%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 €2.41

$1.64 MZN 103

64.63%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.80 €2.50

$1.03 MZN 65.4

171.84%

Potato (1kg)

$2.09 €1.86

$1.00 MZN 63.5

109.00%

Onion (1kg)

$2.07 €1.85

$0.74 MZN 47.08

179.73%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 €1.30

$0.95 MZN 60.1

53.68%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 €0.84

$0.53 MZN 33.64

77.36%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.87 €6.13

$2.89 MZN 183

137.72%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.04

$7.21 MZN 456

9.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 €1.25

$0.97 MZN 61.3

45.36%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 €2.26

$1.21 MZN 76.8

109.92%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.14 €2.80

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.70

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.99 €2.67

$1.61 MZN 102

85.71%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.33

$1.20 MZN 76.1

24.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.78

$24.12 MZN 1,525

38.35%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.60

$1.40 MZN 88.5

28.57%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$33.2K €29.6K

$31.4K MZN 2.0M

5.65%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.7K €28.3K

$22.5K MZN 1.4M

40.68%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$180 €161

$39.21 MZN 2,480

360.11%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$13.84 €12.35

$7.64 MZN 483

81.15%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.70 €30.06

$77.9 MZN 4,926

-56.73%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.5 €45.96

$39.09 MZN 2,473

31.77%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.96 €14.24

Cinema Ticket

$10.99 €9.81

$7.60 MZN 481

44.61%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$917 €818

$173 MZN 10.9K

430.27%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.5K €14.7K

$5,041 MZN 318.8K

226.92%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.0 €77.7

$49.21 MZN 3,113

76.85%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.51 €34.35

$56.0 MZN 3,539

-31.18%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 €94.4

$79.2 MZN 5,011

33.55%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$120 €107

$77.4 MZN 4,898

54.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,699 €1,516

$462 MZN 29.2K

267.90%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,355 €1,209

$391 MZN 24.7K

246.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,603 €2,322

$696 MZN 44.0K

274.19%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,062 €1,840

$552 MZN 34.9K

273.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,169

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,575

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,211 €1,972

$307 MZN 19.4K

620.88%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

-86.88%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Last update for Matola: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3%

Matola

$391 39.1% 71.2% $965

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$322 13.1%

Matola

$185 18.6% 42.4% $136

Eating Out

Barcelona

$268 10.9%

Matola

$118 11.9% 55.8% $150

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$228 9.3%

Matola

$125 12.5% 45.3% $103

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$158 6.4%

Matola

$118 11.8% 25.4% $40

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

Matola

$54 5.4% 26.1% $19

Getting Around

Barcelona

$48 2%

Matola

$7.6 * 0.8% 84.3% $41

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,699 in Barcelona and $462 in Matola. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 7.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $63 in Matola for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $322 vs $185 per month, with Matola cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇲🇿 Matola

🕒 Local time

00:44 12:44 AM

01:44 1:44 AM

1 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

675,422

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mozambican Metical MZN MT

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MZN = 1.58 USD

100 MZN = 1.41 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MZN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mozambican Metical exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 63.25 MZN (100 MZN = 1.58 USD). 1 EUR = 70.89 MZN (100 MZN = 1.41 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona Matola 8,110 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Matola

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Barcelona vs Matola: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,453 in Barcelona and $999 in Matola, so Matola is about 59% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 7.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,699 in Barcelona versus $462 in Matola. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $917 in Barcelona versus $173 in Matola. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Matola – a meal for two runs $63 versus $67 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $999 in Matola versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Matola but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Matola the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Matola wins on affordability, Barcelona on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.